Massive Asian spider takes hold in US, sending humans scurrying
- The Joro spider – common in China, Japan and Korea – is spinning thick webs over the state of Georgia, prompting a flurry of anxious social media posts
- It is not clear exactly when the colourful arachnids first arrived in the US or why their numbers have suddenly exploded
A large spider native to East Asia 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.
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 (3 metres) deep. Hudson estimates he has 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”.
The Joro – Trichonephila clavata – is part of a group of spiders known as orb weavers for their highly organised, wheel-shaped webs. Common in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan, Joro females have colourful yellow, blue and red markings on their bodies. They can measure three inches (8cm) across when their legs are fully extended.
It is not clear exactly how and when the first Joro spider arrived in the US. In Georgia, a researcher identified one about 80 miles (128km) northeast of Atlanta in 2014. They have also been found in South Carolina, and Hudson is convinced they will spread across the South.