Orb weaver ID

[wilippa]

Sorry no pictures of this one but I was walking in a Nature Reserve near my house the other day (I live in Oxford) and noticed a number of orb-weavers I did not recognise. Their webs were similar to A. diadematus but perhaps a little smaller. Some of the webs were vertical, others were tilted and others still horizontal. The spider sat at the centre of the web, head down. Where the webs were tilted or horizontal the spider was beneath the web. The spiders themselves were about the size of a large specimen of L. Triangularis (sorry, I'm not good at estimating measurements). They had a pattern on their abdomen similar to the background pattern of A. diadematus but without the white cross. They had noticably long first pair of legs, which they held almost straight in front of them.
Any ideas from my fairly rubbish description?
The webs were along a path in vegetation near the edge of the NR where it borders houses and gardens.

[sebastianbawn]

Possibly a Meta species? Try Meta segmentata, although they can be very similar to other members of the Meta genus

[Jason Green]

Yes, try Meta - or even Tetragnatha.

[wilippa]

thanks for the pointers. I'll check them out.

[wilippa]

Originally Posted by sebastianbawn

Possibly a Meta species? Try Meta segmentata, although they can be very similar to other members of the Meta genus

Certainly looks like that could be it! Thanks Sebastian.

[wilippa]

I eventually got a pic of these guys (and then went away so didn't get the chance to upload it).
Standing by your ID?

[sebastianbawn]

Yes. Definately a Meta/Metallina species (not sure which is the accepted genus now)

[wilippa]

Cool. Ta. I take it we can't narrow it down any further from a picture so I'll have to be content with that.

[No.9 Spider]

Though not infallible, a rough guide is that M. segmentata is around late summer to late autumn, M. mengei being around spring to early summer.

[wilippa]

Sounds like it's M. segmentata then as this one was photographed in mid September.