Unknown Orb Weaver: Maybe Neoscona oaxacensis and Cat Faced Spider

danielj

February 11th, 2008 at 1:00 am

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Great big orb weavers
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for the info on the purse spider. Would like to share a couple of others in our collection from our days in New Mexico. The golden spiders were plentiful and every year we had 3 or 4 set up shop around our windows to catch the bugs flying toward the house lights. The black and white one was solitary, and it was around for our last two years there. It spun a huge circular web with a bit of zig zag center, very similar to the large argiopes we had in South Louisiana.
Denise Dailey


Maybe Neoscona oaxacensis	Cat Faced Spider

Hi Denise,
We are uncertain of the identity of your black and white spider. The closest we can match it to on BugGuide is one of the spiders in the genus Neoscona, perhaps Neoscona oaxacensis. We hope someone can provide us with a definite answer on this beauty. We believe your golden spider is a Cat Faced Spider, Araneus gemmoides, based on photos posted to BugGuide.

Confirmation: from Eric Eaton
Daniel:
I believe you are correct in the identification of the black and white orb weaver from New Mexico. It is definitely in the genus Neoscona, and the species oaxacensis is highly variable.
Eric