Does anyone know what this is?

[slimmacck]

Hey all!
Thanks for welcoming me to the forum. I live in Southern California (Orange County to be specific) and came home tonight to find this behemoth of a spider spinning a web above my trash cans! I have absolutely no clue as to what species it is and through my research have found nothing. I’ve never seen a spider this big on a full blown web and I’ve lived in this area my whole life. It almost looks like a tarantula to me but I’ve been under the impression that tarantulas don’t make large webs off the ground. His butt is probably the size of a big juicy grape. Hopefully the picture i attached will help solve his ID. Thank you!

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Arthropods 1a

quoted from this site.
“Large female orb weaver. Originally thought to be Araneus; however, it lacks the characteristic paired dorsal bumps on anterior of abdomen. This may be the genus Neoscoma, possibly N. crucifera.”

 

[BoyFromLA]

Perhaps Eriophora ravilla?

 

[SpookySpooder]

With orb weavers you need a clear photo of the ventral patterning and dorsal abdomen to properly ID them.

The exposure from your flash washed out a lot of the details, so I can't guess confidently.

 

[slimmacck]

With orb weavers you need a clear photo of the ventral patterning and dorsal abdomen to properly ID them.

The exposure from your flash washed out a lot of the details, so I can't guess confidently.

Gotcha. It’s safe to say it’s a species of orb weaver though?

 

[SpookySpooder]

It does have similar body features, so I suspect it is an orb weaver. I see a lot of them and I'm in your area.

Looks a bit like the one I'm trying to ID myself.

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Gotcha. It’s safe to say it’s a species of orb weaver though?

CHeck my link it had your species I just quoted what it says.

 

[darkness975]

Hey all!
Thanks for welcoming me to the forum. I live in Southern California (Orange County to be specific) and came home tonight to find this behemoth of a spider spinning a web above my trash cans! I have absolutely no clue as to what species it is and through my research have found nothing. I’ve never seen a spider this big on a full blown web and I’ve lived in this area my whole life. It almost looks like a tarantula to me but I’ve been under the impression that tarantulas don’t make large webs off the ground. His butt is probably the size of a big juicy grape. Hopefully the picture i attached will help solve his ID. Thank you!

Orb weaver. Not really that large though.

 

[Smotzer]

Neoscona crucifera is what it looks like and is in your region! Its a female too if that wasn't obvious!