Unknown spider on Shepherdia canadensis - Araneus yukon

Moved

… Lynette Elliott, 7 January, 2012 - 10:31am

Yes, we had the same thought

Nice fit to fig 170 on pg 165.
Did you take any more images? It would be nice to see more of this one. Seems to fit the description of the male better than the female.

EDIT: It looks like the park is right on the Firth River which is exactly where the male holotype and the female paratype were collected! We're envious - tell us a little about your find.

… john and jane balaban, 6 January, 2012 - 5:28pm

These photos were the best sh

These photos were the best shots I got, the rest were out of focus. I spent some time in the park (right next to the Firth River - 69.16762N, 140.14658W) this past summer and was looking at the plants there. This spider was found on the Soapberry plant (Shepherdia canadensis) for many days, which I assumed was predating on the insects visiting the flowers. I did not collect the spider but only photographed its presence.

May I ask where did you get the information regarding where the male holotype and the female paratype were collected? The only reference I have is the "Insects of the Yukon" by H.V. Danks and J.A. Downes, but it has very little information about Araneus yukon.

… PSYL, 6 January, 2012 - 6:08pm

On the bottom of the INFO page for Araneus

here you will find this reference:
Levi, H. W. 1971. The diadematus group of the orb-weaver genus Araneus north of Mexico (Araneae: Araneidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 141(4):131-179 (Biodiversity Heritage Library).
Click on it and scroll down to page 165 for the figure and pg 166 for the text.

… john and jane balaban, 6 January, 2012 - 8:18pm

Araneus yukon

This is very exciting. This might be Bugguide's first image of the species A. yukon. Let's wait and see what others think.

… Lynette Elliott, 6 January, 2012 - 9:57am