# Giant spiders are invading the Southeast {Joro Spiders} **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 5, 2022, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491 "2022-03-05T00:52:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/1 "2022-03-05T00:52:27Z")
Giant Joro spiders have invaded Alabama and are moving on to other states. The article says they’re venomous, but their fangs are small, they can’t penetrate human skin. > **[Giant Joro spider invading Georgia, expected to spread quickly across Alabama](https://www.al.com/news/2022/03/giant-joro-spider-invading-georgia-expected-to-spread-quickly-across-alabama.html)** > > Researchers at the University of Georgia say the invasive Joro spider is now widespread throughout that state and will likely continue to spread across the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/2 "2022-03-05T01:35:32Z")
They’re cool looking. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/3 "2022-03-05T01:49:35Z")
It looks kind of like the spider in the _Spider-Man_ tie-in LiMu Emu commercial (which seriously undercuts its coolness factor). ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/4 "2022-03-05T02:02:15Z")
If they’re like the Nephila Pilipes, their bite is painful but they are quite good-tempered. Creepy-looking but not aggressive. ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/5 "2022-03-05T03:25:36Z")
I assume you mean aggressive towards humans. Are any spiders aggressive towards humans? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/6 "2022-03-05T03:58:52Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The article says they’re venomous All spiders are venomous. It is how they get food. Also, > [@\*Please\* let that be a mistake!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-let-that-be-a-mistake/916697): > > I’ve started a project to gather all of the photos of spiders I have taken over the last 20 years of having digital cameras, and with any luck identifying them. So tonight I find a few that I took of a spider on my front porch in 2010. [[Album] imgur.com [imgur.com] ](https://imgur.com/a/LOZ0okM) I let Google Lens have a try at it, it comes back with a very good m… And some posts in the “Today in Nature” thread. > [@Today in nature I saw](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/1020): > > My Joro has roommates that I’ve just started seeing, tiny kleptoparasitic spiders living in the web to feed off the Joro’s leftovers. (There is a huge size difference—the one in the bottom left of the first shot can’t be more than a thousandth of the Joro’s mass.) [[image] ](https://i.imgur.com/Gizvisd.jpeg)[[image] ](https://i.imgur.com/fZ77hrF.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/7 "2022-03-05T06:21:23Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Giant Joro spiders have invaded Alabama and are moving on to other states. The Necromancer is taking shape once again and gaining strength! ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/8 "2022-03-05T13:36:03Z")
My wife will never travel south of Ohio once she learns of this. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/9 "2022-03-05T14:18:15Z")
> [@solost](#): > > My wife will never travel south of Ohio once she learns of this Do you have Writing Spiders there? These are no bigger than that. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/10 "2022-03-05T14:24:48Z")
Did you not read the title in the OP link? There’s a giant one that can span ALABAMA!! ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/11 "2022-03-05T14:54:01Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > My wife will never travel south of Ohio once she learns of this > > Do you have Writing Spiders there? These are no bigger than that. We do, actually, but I had to google ‘writing spider’. I’ve always known those as ‘garden spiders’. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/12 "2022-03-08T16:51:27Z")
Joro spiders: not out hunting babies. > **[‘These are not spiders that are out hunting babies:’ Clemson professor talks...](https://www.wistv.com/2022/03/07/these-are-not-spiders-that-are-out-hunting-babies-clemson-professor-talks-joro-spider-invasion/)** > > A large, parachuting spider species invading South Carolina has a lot of arachnophobes concerned - but one expert says you don’t need to panic. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/13 "2022-03-08T17:02:07Z")
Dr. Dave Coyle is a normal human typing with his human hands. [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/PZ5oC1m.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/H6kMpqn) ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/14 "2022-03-08T18:06:23Z")
I know spiders are supposed to be “good guys” and a vital part of the ecosystem. They need to do their vital work outside if my living sphere. My genetic makeup says the only GOOD spider is a DEAD spider. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/15 "2022-03-09T10:44:32Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Writing Spiders I’d say we just nuke them, but we’ve all seen how that works out. You think they are big now, just wait until they start sucking up all that radiation. > **[Eight Legged Freaks (2002)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0271367/mediaviewer/rm3782914048/)** > > Eight Legged Freaks (2002) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/16 "2022-03-09T21:27:18Z")
[The Joro spiders are harmless to humans, and are expected to balloon up and down the East Coast](https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2022/03/09/giant-joro-spiders-east-coast-may): > An invasive species of spider the size of a child’s hand is expected to “colonize” the entire East Coast this spring by parachuting down from the sky, researchers at the [University of Georgia announced last week](https://news.uga.edu/joro-spiders-likely-to-spread-beyond-georgia/). > **Why it matters:** Large Joro spiders — millions of them — are expected to begin “ballooning” up and down the East Coast as early as May. Researchers have determined that the spiders can tolerate cold weather, but are harmless to humans as their fangs are too small to break human skin. > **Threat level:** Andy Davis, author of the study and a researcher at Georgia’s Odum School of Ecology, tells Axios that it isn’t certain how far north the spiders will travel, but they may make it as far north as D.C. or even Delaware. From the University of Georgia website: > “People should try to learn to live with them,” he 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.” > “The way I see it, there’s no point in excess cruelty where it’s not needed,” added Benjamin Frick, co-author of the study and an undergraduate researcher in the School of Ecology. “You have people with saltwater guns shooting them out of the trees and things like that, and that’s really just unnecessary.” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/17 "2022-03-09T21:31:23Z")
[You’re a few days late.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast/960491) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/18 "2022-03-09T21:31:24Z")
I grew up abroad where Joro spiders were highly common out in the wild and was quite fond of them. They do have a painful bite, but only if you handle them too roughly with bare hands. They are scary looking but move about slowly, easy to catch. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/19 "2022-03-09T21:32:01Z")
Oh, damn. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491/20 "2022-03-09T21:44:46Z")
Seveal months late, actually. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-spiders-are-invading-the-southeast-joro-spiders/960491.md?page=2)