CLOSED: beautiful but strange spider ID needed

slywlf Brooksville, FL(Zone 9a) Sep 10, 2012

I realize this is a long shot, as I did not have my camera handy and drew this in Paint from memory, but I have faith someone will recognize it here ;-) This spider was not in a web, or anywhere near one - it seemed to be sunbathing on the side of my friends Catskills NY (zone 5) house. It's front pair of legs were extended forward together at rest, while the aft sets were splayed out. The abdomen was flattened, not bulbous, almost diamond shaped, with a distinctive pattern like a pine cone. About an inch long from head to butt, overall almost two with the legs extended. Completely rust/tan in color. I really wish I had had my camera, but can anyone ID this beauty?

This message was edited Sep 10, 2012 11:46 AM

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themoonhowl Prairieville, LA(Zone 9a) Sep 10, 2012

No help on who you saw exactly, but did find a link of spiders common to your area...perhaps that will give you a jumping off point. The genus that comes to mind re "diamond shaped abdomen" is Pardosa....the wolf spiders.I also posted a link to lots of images for you on Pardosa.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/commonspiders.pdf

http://bugguide.net/node/view/3389/bgimage

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kwanjin (Zone 7a) Sep 10, 2012

I was thinking along the lines of a Fishing Spider. Maybe?

http://bugguide.net/node/view/409015

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themoonhowl Prairieville, LA(Zone 9a) Sep 10, 2012

My question with Dolomedes is color. Are any of them Reddish-tan in color or all gray/black?

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kwanjin (Zone 7a) Sep 10, 2012

Yes, they vary in colors.

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themoonhowl Prairieville, LA(Zone 9a) Sep 11, 2012

Slywlf, also look at this link..maybe a Pisaurina mira?

http://hartmanprehistoricgarden.com/sa-pisaurina_mir.html

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slywlf Brooksville, FL(Zone 9a) May 30, 2014

Thank you all for your suggestions, and sorry for the long delay in responding - I suddenly was in the throes of selling my home and moving and things got.... hectic.
Oh my - what fun looking at all the wonderful spider pictures! I may never know exactly which spider I saw, as I have yet to find an exact match for that beauty, but it is a dead heat between the Dolomedes and the Pisaurina mira. Both have the right general shape, size and unique rest posture, so though I have yet to find a picture of one all orange with that amazing 'pine cone' texture on the abdomen I am satisfied that I am closer than I was. Thank you!!!

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slywlf Brooksville, FL(Zone 9a) May 30, 2014

Found her!!!!! ;-)
http://bugguide.net/node/view/893512/bgimage
Pisaurina mira - the right color and the pattern on the abdomen - yay!!!