Have ‘flying,’ hand-sized Joro spiders reached Ohio yet?
**Related Video Above: Giant spider donated to Australian researchers.**
CLEVELAND (WJW) — Over the last couple years, American scientists have closely watched the spread of a large, invasive species — the Joro spider.
And there’s a good reason why: the striped arachnids are a thing of nightmares. They can grow as large as your hand (the females can grow up to four inches, anyway), are venomous, displace native species, weave golden webs and can fly, sort of.
‘Big and scary’: See the spider spotted in NE Ohio
“While not accurate flight in the avian sense,” New Jersey Pest Control explained in a press release earlier this year. “Joro spiders utilize a technique known as ballooning, where they release silk threads into the air, allowing them to be carried by the wind.”
Since the early 2010s, the spiders originally from East Asia, have made their home in Georgia and other southern states. For the last two years, officials in New Jersey and New York have warned residents their arrival is imminent, but for now, they haven’t arrived.
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In looking at the map on iNaturalist, which allows people to share sightings of all sorts of critters, Ohio also hasn’t been invaded by the spiders.
A peer-reviewed study from last fall found however that the spiders are here to stay, and they seem to like it here:
“Those data show that this spider is going to be able to inhabit most of the eastern U.S.,” David Coyle, a professor at Clemson University, said in a press release. “It shows that their comfort area in their native range matches up very well with much of North America.”
A Japanese Joro spider, a type of golden orb-weaver, Trichonephila clavata, feeds on a small grasshopper in a forest near Yokohama, Japan. The joro spider, a large spider native to East Asia, is seen in Johns Creek, Ga., on Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021. The spider has spun its thick, golden web on power lines, porches and vegetable patches all over north Georgia this year – a proliferation that has driven some unnerved homeowners indoors and prompted a flood of anxious social media posts. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz) The Joro spider is shown. (Provided by Clemson University)
So what do people need to know if they do see one of these spiders? First of all, they are venomous, but not enough to harm humans or pets (although they do bite). They’re also quite shy, researchers have found, and unlikely to take solace inside your home.
Researchers at the University of Georgia say the best way to get rid of the pests if they decide to spin webs in your yard or outside your house is to kill them. Find out more right here.
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