Another confusing spider - any ideas?

[Geoff F]

Another creature from those dense damp dark woods beside the estuary, S. Devon.

It may just be yet another colour variation of Meta segmenta or Araneus diadematus but it looks odd to me, particularly the underside. Although that might be the camera angle.

Size around 6-8 mm. Web similar to Meta or Araneus species. There is a space between the spiral ending and a confused centre with no apparent centre hole. But a struggling fly could have messed things about.

The short creamy coloured band at the end of the abdomen is a bit like some versions of Meta merianae but I'm not convinced about the mottled abdominal colouration or the carapace markings, which admitedly aren't very clear.

The faint abdominal midline and pairs of faint black dots are not unlike some types of Araneus but it has four distinct black eyes in a row.

I have photographed a few other spiders in the area with similar mottled abdomens but without the cream stripe. So far, I have failed to get a clear ID for any of them.

So, any suggestions for this one? I have searched numerous sources for a couple of days but I'm just going round in circles.

[No.9 Spider]

Certainly looks like Meta/Metellina sp. and it's an immature male that looks like he'll mature on the next moult. Could be that this has something to do with the non-descript pigmentation of the abdomen?
Araneidae species tend to have quite a bit of white hair on their carapace.



No.9 Spider

[Geoff F]

Thanks for that; everything starts to make sense now. So it is possible that the partial cream stripe might develop into a fully striped version of Meta merianae at the next moult. If so, I will have to try to keep an eye open in this area of the woods to see if stays around there.

Earlier this year, I did find one of these cream stripe variations lurking under the staging of my greenhouse, and it took a bit of searching around before I managed to obtain a positive ID.