Last year, millions of yellow, blue-black and red spiders descended on the state of Georgia, making headlines and dominating social media throughout fall. New research suggests they may soon spread across the entire East Coast.
The East Asian native Joro spider was first identified locally in 2014 by Georgia Museum of Natural History collections manager Rick Hoebeke, and the spider has since spread across the state, according to the Athens Banner-Herald. A new study from the University of Georgia suggests the invasive species may soon spread throughout most of the Eastern U.S.
The study found that the eastern U.S. climate is similar to the spiders’ native Japan, where Joro spiders have successfully spread throughout the country. And the spiders have shown a propensity to survive winter conditions that kill off cousins like the golden silk spider. Compared to golden silk spiders, the Joro spider has roughly twice the metabolism and a 77% higher heart rate, allowing its body to function better than its relatives’ in the cold.
Joros also have the ability to do what’s called “ballooning,” or using their silks to carry them across the wind to new locations. All told, the spiders seem poised to spread.
“It looks like the Joros could probably survive throughout most of the Eastern Seaboard here, which is pretty sobering,” said corresponding author of the study, Andrew Davis of UGA’s Odum School of Ecology
However, there’s no need to panic. According to the research, the invasive spider has little impact on local food webs or ecosystems, and may even provide additional food for native predators such as birds, UGA reported.
“People should try to learn to live with them,” Davis said. “If they’re literally in your way, I can see taking a web down and moving them to the side, but they’re just going to be back next year.”
Joros are large, spanning nearly 3 inches across when their legs are fully extended, and are completely harmless to humans despite their size, UGA Today reported.
“They seem to be really common in riparian areas and in urban areas around people’s houses, but they’re also in the deep woods,” Byron Freeman, director of the Georgia Museum of Natural History, told UGA Today.
About the Author
