Species Leucauge argyra

Tetragnatha argyra (Walckenaer 1842)

Linyphia aurulenta (C.L. Koch 1845)

Linyphia ornata (Taczanowski 1874)

Meta argyra (Keyserling 1881)

Argyroepeira argyra (Keyserling 1893)

Argyroepeira argyra (McCook 1894)

Argyroepeira argyra (Simon 1894)

Argyroepeira aurulenta (Simon 1897)

Plesiometa argyra (Cambridge 1903)

Leucauge argyra Banks 1909

Leucauge argyra Petrunkevitch 1930

Plesiometa argyra (Archer 1951)

Leucauge aurulenta Archer 1951

The thing that catches our [JJB] eye about L. argyra is that the three lines on the back run parallel only about halfway across the back when the outer two suddenly bend inward before flowing parallel once again to the end of the abdomen. L. venusta is variable, but seems to have a single line that branches out into three about a quarter of the way which then flow parallel to the back. There's probably something much more importantly different, but we haven't noticed it yet. See

Continuing this discussion, the dorsal view of the abdomen has a white stripe that jogs inward about halfway to the back following the black line mentioned above. Below it on the side is a broad downward curving white band ending sometimes in a yellow tip, and below that a smaller curving yellow band. These are separated by broad black bands which get wider as they get farther back, so that the back of the animal is essentially all black with a few yellow spots. The underside has two parallel yellow lines ending in spots. We have not yet seen the frills on the back legs that are often so apparent in venusta, which see for comparable information here. See these images of L. argyra:

Web is horizontal & raised in the center

Orchard Spider (Leucauge venusta)

Parasitic Wasp - an article about webs and building behavior of this species when parasitized by a wasp

classification and synonymy (Norman Platnick, The World Spider Catalog)