Giant venomous flying spiders with 4-inch legs are real, and they will potentially invade the New York area sometime this year, according to the New Jersey Pest Control. Joro spiders are coming to the Northeast after initially infiltrating the Southeastern U.S. from Japan, the pest control service said in a news release earlier this year. Georgia served as the “ground zero” for the arachnids in 2021 as residents saw the spiders in urban and rural areas, WUGA, the University of Georgia’s public FM radio station, reported.
According to Jason DiBiase, the owner of Rochester Pest Pro, the female spiders have a leg span of about four inches and an overall lifespan of up to 12 months. DiBiase is also on the board of the New York State Pest Management Association and says Rochester has not seen any of the flying spiders; however, they could already be starting to show up in the New York City and New Jersey areas.
DiBiase suspects that the spiders will make their way into the Rochester through truck shipments and the port of Rochester but is unsure of how they will survive the winter season.
How to spot a giant venomous flying spider
According to the Flanders, New Jersey-based pest control service, the Japanese spider is “hard to miss ” due to its “striking appearance and distinct behavior.” The extermination service’s release said the spiders are a “vibrant yellow” and have black coloration. What makes the Joro spider different from other spiders is its ability to fly by using a technique called “ballooning,” the pest control service said. Ballooning involves the spider releasing silk threads into the air, which allows them to be carried by the wind, according to the release.
How do you get rid of the Joro spiders?
The Joro spiders seem to be here to stay, so there are no definitive ways to eliminate them. DiBiase suggests that residents take these preventative measures:
- Knocking down webs
- Exterior pest treatments
- Calling your local pest control company
How did Joro spiders come to America?
The theory behind the Joro spiders’ origin in the U.S. is that the venomous arachnids were unintentionally transported through cargo shipments, international trade, and personal travel, New Jersey Pest Control said. It is unclear exactly how they got to America, but the pest control service says the “consequences of their arrival are becoming increasingly evident.”
The pest control service said the Joro spiders’ ability to adapt to various environments and reproduce rapidly led to their successful establishment of the Southeast as their initial epicenter.
“This spider is going to be able to inhabit most of the eastern U.S.,” David Coyle, invasive species expert at the University of Clemson, said in October 2023. “It shows that their comfort area in their native range matches up very well with much of North America… Barring some unforeseen circumstance, we expect the range of these things to continue expanding, likely to the north, and we’ve already seen that with some populations in Maryland.”
José R. Ramírez-Garofalo, an ecologist at Rutgers University’s Lockwood Lab, told the Staten Island Advance in April that “it is a matter of when (and) not if” the spiders make their way to New York and New Jersey.
