@dong-garage submitted: These little guys and gals are all over my yard! They’re orb weavers and I’ve included an illustration on how they sit in the center of their webs. I thought they might be cat-face orbies, but these have neither the hairs, orange color, or the scrunched posture. Are they just juvenile cat-faced orb weavers? Located in Southern California. Thank you!!
The drawing was very helpful on this friend, so thank you for including that! That specific body positioning is super typical of this family. This fellow is a feather-legged spider, probably Uloborus diversus. As the species name implies, individuals display a pretty large diversity of colors and patterns. Interestingly, this family (Uloboridae aka hackled orbweavers) is one of the few spider families without venom glands!
