Just In Time For Halloween

I saw this small spider out by the condenser this morning. I first thought - black widow or red widow. Not a perfect hourglass, but they don't always have those either. Kinda strange place for a black widow.... they usually like dark places, not out in the open sunshine.

It was darned hard to get a photo. The spider is small and my camera did not want to focus on it. Finally managed this one with a different lens.

Then I tried from the side to see if I could get a plainer background to let it register with the autofocus. I got this side shot.... very colorful spider! Not all black, so I'm still not sure just what kind it is. Maybe someone out there knows?? If you do, email me.

UPDATE: Liz, knower of these things, sent me a page from BugGuide. Seems this little spider is:

Species Leucauge venusta - Orchard Orbweaver

Regardless, it's always fun to have at least one "spooky" photo this time of year.