Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
This Large Asian Spider Has Now Made Its Way to the U.S.
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
October 29, 2021

Share

A large spider native to East Asia has made its way stateside.

The Joro spider, called Trichonephila clavata, is a large spider known for its spiral, wheel-shaped webs. It is typically found in Japan, North and South Korea, Taiwan, and China, but can now be found in Georgia and South Carolina.

Joros have spun their thick, golden webs on power lines, porches and vegetable patches — a proliferation that has driven some unnerved homeowners indoors and prompted a flood of anxious social media posts.

Webs 10 Feet Deep

In metro Atlanta, Jennifer Turpin — a self-described arachnophobe — stopped blowing leaves in her yard after inadvertently walking into a web created by the Joro spider. Stephen Carter has avoided a walking trail along the Chattahoochee River where he encountered Joro webs every dozen steps.

Farther east in Winterville, Georgia, Will Hudson’s front porch became unusable amid an abundance of Joro webs 10 feet deep. Hudson estimates he’s killed more than 300 of the spiders on his property.

“The webs are a real mess,” said Hudson, an entomologist at the University of Georgia. “Nobody wants to come out of the door in the morning, walk down the steps and get a face full of spider web.”

Spiders Can Span 3 Inches Across

The Joro can measure three inches across when their legs are fully extended.

It’s not clear exactly how and when the first Joro spider arrived in the U.S. In Georgia, a researcher identified one about 80 miles northeast of Atlanta in 2014. They have also been found in South Carolina, and Hudson is convinced they will spread across the South.

It’s also not clear why they are so abundant this year, though experts agree their numbers have exploded.

“We see natural ebbs and flows in the populations of many different species that may be linked to local conditions, particularly slight changes in rainfall,” said Paula Cushing, an arachnologist at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Not a Threat to Humans

Cushing and other experts say Joros are not a threat to humans or dogs and cats and won’t bite them unless they are feeling very threatened. Hudson said a researcher collecting them with her bare hands reported the occasional pinch, but said the spiders never broke her skin.

Researchers, however, don’t agree fully on what impact, if any, the spider will have on other species and the environment.

Debbie Gilbert, 67, isn’t waiting to find out. She has adopted a zero-tolerance policy for the spiders around her home in Norcross, Georgia, winding their webs with a stick, bringing them down and stomping them.

“I don’t advocate killing anything. I live in peace with all the spiders around here and everything else,” she said. “But (Joros) just don’t belong here, that’s all.”

Turpin, 50, tried to set a Joro spider web on fire at her East Cobb home, but then got scared it would fall on her and fell into a hole as she quickly backpedaled. She had a neighbor remove it instead.

“I just don’t think I’m going to do yard work anymore,” she said.

Spiders Help Control Mosquitoes

Nancy Hinkle, another entomologist at the University of Georgia, said Joros help suppress mosquitoes and biting flies and are one of the few spiders that will catch and eat brown marmorated stink bugs, which are serious pests to many crops.

“This is wonderful. This is exciting. Spiders are our friends,” she said. “They are out there catching all the pests we don’t want around our home.”

Ann Rypstra, who studies spider behavior at Miami University, was more cautious in her assessment of the Jora’s potential impacts, saying more research was needed.

“I’d always err on the side of caution when you have something that establishes itself where it’s not supposed to be,” she said.

Researchers at South Carolina’s Clemson University also were more circumspect, saying in a factsheet published online in August that they “do not yet know if there will be any negative impacts from this non-native species on the local ecology of South Carolina.”

Amateur gardeners and naturalists have raised concerns about the safety of native spiders and bees and other pollinators.

Still Many Unknowns About Joros

Cushing said Joros are probably big enough to take on large pollinators caught in their webs, but those insects may be an insignificant part of their diet. Rypstra has studied a similar spider species and said their webs are used by other spiders as a source of food, so the Joro might help native spiders. But she said there was also evidence Joros compete with other orb weavers.

The bottom line: there are many unknowns.

Most of the Joros are expected to die by late November, but they may return in equally large, or even larger, numbers next year, though scientists say even that is hard to predict with any certainty.

Anthony Trendl, a homeowner in Suwanee, Georgia, is enjoying them for now. He has started a website, jorospider.com, to share his enthusiasm about the spiders and foster understanding of them. While they raise concerns and can be creepy, they are also beautiful, he said.

“It’s been a rough go of things,” he said. “I wanted to find some good in this world. To me, nature’s an easy place to find it.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Cronenworth’s Big Hit Helps Lift the Padres to a 6-4 Win Over Melvin’s Giants

DON'T MISS

Shohei Ohtani Reaches 3 Times in Home Debut as the Dodgers Rout the Cardinals 7-1

DON'T MISS

Facebook News Tab Will Soon Be Unavailable as Meta Scales Back News and Political Content

DON'T MISS

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Rises to More Records to Close Out Its Latest Winning Month

DON'T MISS

A Fresno County First: Kerman Council Passes Amended Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution

DON'T MISS

UN Top Court Orders Israel to Open More Land Crossings for Aid into Gaza

DON'T MISS

How Involved Is Southern California Consulting Firm in FUSD Executive Dealings?

DON'T MISS

Biden’s Fundraiser with Obama and Clinton Nets a Record $25 Million, His Campaign Says

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified’s Self-Protection Racket Is Hurting Our Kids

DON'T MISS

Rockin’ Out or Laughing, the Valley Has Its Pick of Weekend Events

No data was found

Facebook News Tab Will Soon Be Unavailable as Meta Scales Back News and Political Content

7 hours ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Rises to More Records to Close Out Its Latest Winning Month

7 hours ago

A Fresno County First: Kerman Council Passes Amended Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution

8 hours ago

UN Top Court Orders Israel to Open More Land Crossings for Aid into Gaza

8 hours ago

How Involved Is Southern California Consulting Firm in FUSD Executive Dealings?

8 hours ago

Biden’s Fundraiser with Obama and Clinton Nets a Record $25 Million, His Campaign Says

9 hours ago

Fresno Unified’s Self-Protection Racket Is Hurting Our Kids

9 hours ago

Rockin’ Out or Laughing, the Valley Has Its Pick of Weekend Events

10 hours ago

Ex-Correctional Officer at Women’s Prison in California Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Inmates

12 hours ago

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Draw Nearly 5 Million Viewers for Second-Round NCAA Win

12 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Riverside Golf Course Introduces Military Veterans to the Game

PGA HOPE, now underway at Fresno’s Riverside Golf Course, is designed to introduce golf to veterans and active duty military members t...

6 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Fresno's Riverside Golf Course
6 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Riverside Golf Course Introduces Military Veterans to the Game

7 hours ago

Cronenworth’s Big Hit Helps Lift the Padres to a 6-4 Win Over Melvin’s Giants

7 hours ago

Shohei Ohtani Reaches 3 Times in Home Debut as the Dodgers Rout the Cardinals 7-1

7 hours ago

Facebook News Tab Will Soon Be Unavailable as Meta Scales Back News and Political Content

7 hours ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Rises to More Records to Close Out Its Latest Winning Month

8 hours ago

A Fresno County First: Kerman Council Passes Amended Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution

8 hours ago

UN Top Court Orders Israel to Open More Land Crossings for Aid into Gaza

8 hours ago

How Involved Is Southern California Consulting Firm in FUSD Executive Dealings?

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend