Hundreds of the spiders live in this park's trees in West Palm Beach, Florida. August 21, 2023.
© THOMAS CORDY for USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY NETWORK
(New York, NY) – A species of spider is spreading — and the arachnids are expected to show up in the Tri-state this summer. Called joro spiders, they’ve been in Georgia and South Carolina for years, but because they’re light enough to travel through air they’ve been on the move. Now the expectation is they will be spotted in New Jersey and New York.
Native to East Asia, the yellow spiders were first discovered in the US in 2014. While they are venomous, research shows they are unlikely to bite humans or pets unless cornered. The joro spider’s abdomen is yellow with blue and green stripes. They spin golden, wheel-shaped webs that they use to travel through the air. One upside is that the spiders — like other, native species — eat some of the pests we know and hate: like mosquitoes, stink bugs, yellow jackets, and even the spotted lanternfly (also an invasive species).
The colorful spiders are about three inches in length, and you could see the wheel-shaped webs covering lawns this summer. They can survive cold weather so migrating north doesn’t appear to be a problem.
