Joro Spiders Are Coming Our Way!

So, if you thought spotted lanternflies or cicadas were creepy, well get ready to up your freak out game because the Joro Spiders are coming!!

What is a Joro Spider you ask?  Well let’s talk about it.  First off, the legs on these arachnids are 4 inches long! Now as the Joro Spider is hard to miss, the females have a beautiful vibrant yellow and grey body. But what really sets them apart from other spiders is they can fly!  But not in the way you think.

These scary creatures can actually fly through the air which is how they are capable of getting to us here in the US. They have the ability to utilize a technique known as ballooning.  Basically, releasing silk threads into the air allowing the wind to carry them away.  Just lovely. Imagine seeing these things coming right at you, landing on your head!

Their first stop is New York and the New Jersey area but heading all the way down and through the east coast eventually making their way fully into US by next year.  People have already reported seeing these Joro spiders across a lot of the eastern U.S. including places like Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland and Ohio. New York happens to be right where they like to be but much of North America is shown to be a very comfortable area for them.  Yay for us...

BUT the good news is that although they are highly venomous, there are no reports as of yet that any damage has been done to humans or animals. They tend to like living in the city on streetlamps and telephone poles, which is the opposite of most spiders.