Orb weaver ID help

Spotted a big web between a tree and the fence in the yard so tonight I went out with a flashlite to see who owned it. Found this spider.. It's body is about the size of a dime, you could string a racket with the web, or use it for a volley ball net :P

I stood about a foot away and watched it make a couple spirals before taking the pics.

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Suspect it's Araneus diadematus- tend to have a cross- marking on the back of their abdomen but come in a wide variety of shades of brown (cream/orange/dark brown)
Brian V.

I looked through some google images of Araneus diadematus and found alot of varied results, some are similar but they mostly have a very shiny abdomen compared to this one. Here's another shot of the bottom end. If the location helps, I'm in central coast California.

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Fits in with the Araneus diadematus also known as the common cross spider. Thanks!
I got a picture of it in it's hideout, tight up against the tree trunk. It's not using a sensor/trap line. I got used to finding them above the web using a central sensor/trap line/ I spotted the web a couple days ago in bad shape, no orb in the middle, just a couple strong support webs between the tree and the fence. I was looking all over for it in the tree branches on the top support web. Yesterday I noticed a bit of work done on the orb, only a partial orb but I found a lower support line going down to the tree trunk way below the center of the web. I looked for the spider yesterday really good but didn't find it till today when I looked under some of the ivy leaves that were hanging near the bottom suport web at the tree trunk, didn't see it for a minute even when I was looking right at it. The colors match the tree trunk so well It was nearly invisible.

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Yikes, we have these in California? When I grew up in Germany this spider had a bad reputation, similar to the black widow. Not sure why... I googled it too and found nothing about it being dangerous. Check this out


Excellent captures, Kraig! Poor girl is missing a couple of legs but seems happy to go about business You took the first shot in the dark? How did you illuminate the bg? I thought it would have been black. And how did you spot the spider in its hideout?

Nice shots of a very interesting spider. Well spotted, and captured.

Dave

Nice shot of a very spiky spider.

Thanks for your comments.

The background was illuminated somewhat by the flash. Too much flash for the spider exposure, FEL didn't do it's job I guess. The other shot with the black background has a more accurate exposure.