FILE - The Joro spider, a large spider native to East Asia, is seen in Johns Creek, Ga., Oct. 24, 2021. Populations of the species have been growing in parts of the South and East Coast for years now, and many researchers think it's only a matter of time before they spread to much of the continental U.S. is on the move in the United States.
However, they’re pretty hard to spot at this time of year because they’re still early in their life cycle, only about the size of a grain of rice. A trained eye can spot their softball-sized webs on a front porch, or their gossamer threads of golden silk blanketing the grass. Adults are most commonly seen in August and September.
As for when the species will become more prevalent in the Northeast, an eventual outcome suggested by their research? “Maybe this year, maybe a decade, we really don’t know,” he said. “They’re probably not going to get that far in a single year. It’s going to take a bunch of incremental steps.”The babies can: using a tactic called “ballooning," young Joro spiders can use their webs to harness the winds and electromagnetic currents of the Earth to travel relatively long distances.
What could one day truly cause damage to humans is the widespread introduction of other creatures like the emerald ash borer or a fruit fly called the spotted wing drosophila that threaten the natural resources we rely upon. “I try to stay scientifically objective about it. And that’s a way to protect myself from maybe the sadness of it. But there’s so much ecological damage being done all over the world for, for so many reasons, mostly because of humans,” Davis said. “This to me is just one more example of mankind's influence on the environment.”The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content.