AAlarm over the possible arrival of the Joro spider in the New York metropolitan area has sparked concern across the Northeast about the fearsome-looking eight-legged creature. But experts are advising residents to remain calm, calling the arachnid harmless and also questioning whether and when the spider will reach the north.
“There’s no reason to panic about this,” David Coyle, assistant professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation at Clemson University, tells TIME.
The yellow and gray arachnids originate from East Asia. The creatures were first documented in the southeastern U.S. around 2013, but Coyle says it’s also possible the spider arrived as early as 2010. Experts estimate the arachnids likely hitched a ride on cargo containers traveling to a city. north of Atlanta.
Joro spiders are an invasive species – that is, non-native. In the US, the creatures primarily reside in North Georgiathe Appalachian region of South Carolina, the extreme western North Carolinaand the extreme southeastern Tennessee. Joro spiders have also been recorded as far north as Baltimore, according to inaturalist.org.
Spiders are about the size of a woman’s hand, with bodies up to 2.5 centimeters long and leg spans up to ten centimeters. Despite their size, experts say they are harmless. “In areas where populations are high – are they annoying? Absolutely. They are everywhere and their webs are huge,” says Coyle. “But in terms of danger, we haven’t seen anything like it.”
Here’s what you should know about the spider.
Will the spider really come to New York City?
While it’s possible for the Joro spider to travel to New York City, it would have to reach the metropolitan area through some type of human-assisted movement.
“In terms of if or when [the Joro spider] We’ll get there, we have no idea. It could be a year, it could be a decade – there’s really no way to know. By itself, it doesn’t go that far,” says Coyle. “[But] There’s always the possibility of a population hitchhiking, and that’s probably how that little place near Baltimore got its start.
Coyle notes that it would only take one group of spider egg sacs to be transported from one location to another for the spider population to take root in another state. Still, experts say any estimates about the timing would be pure speculation. Andy Davis, a research scientist at the University of Georgia’s Odum School of Ecology, adds that even if there were some reports of spiders in New York, it would still take years for spider numbers to become a viable population.
It’s still very possible that the creature lives in a place like New York based on its physiology. “If you look at its native distribution in East Asia, it’s a very large distribution, with a large degree of latitude, from northern Japan to Taiwan,” says Davis. “If you extrapolate that, that means these fighters could probably live in a place like Maine or South Florida if they wanted to.”
Does the Joro spider fly?
Joro spiders don’t fly – or at least not in the way some people imagine. Coyle says younger Joro spiders travel by plane when they are hatchlings. “Some of them will climb to a high perch and release some strands of silk, and some of that silk will be caught by the wind and they will be carried away,” he says. It’s a common process known as ballooning.
When arachnids get bigger, however, they are unable to float in the air.
Is the spider harmful to humans or pets?
Experts say the Joro spider poses no risk to humans or pets. “They have venom like any other spider,” says Davis. “But as long as you leave them alone, they will leave you alone.” Part of this has to do with the spider’s personality, which experts describe as quite docile and shy. Even if a person were to be bitten by a Joro spider, Coyle says it is similar to a mosquito bite, while Davis likens it more to a bee sting.
Pets are also likely to be safe around the species. Joro spiders spend most of their time in webs above the ground, according to Davis, which is probably too high for a cat or dog to reach. Even so, any type of spider attack would have to have been provoked.
“They would prefer not to bite you because, from a biological perspective, producing venom for anything really costs a lot of physiological energy,” says Coyle. “They will really only bite if they are completely trapped as a last defense mechanism.”
Is the spider harmful to the environment?
Experts are unsure about the Joro spider’s impact on the environment. The creatures are not comparable to painted lanternflies, which experts encourage people to kill because they pose a danger to more than 100 trees and plants.
The Joro spider, however, does not harm any vegetation. Experts are confused about how they affect native spider species. Davis says Juro spider webs have been seen near native spider webs, meaning the two could coexist. “What may be happening is that Joro spiders are competing with some of our native spiders for food because they are both looking for the same food,” says Davis. “But on the other hand, Joro spiders could end up becoming a food source for someone else, for some of our birds, or their egg cases could be a tasty snack for a raccoon in the winter.”
Coyle says that in areas with a large Joros population, there aren’t as many native spider species, although it’s unclear what would keep the different types of spiders separate.
Davis says it’s not necessary to kill the spider, although Coyle says people can crush the arachnid if it makes them more comfortable. “Are you going to make any measurable impact on populations? No. But if that’s your thing, go for it,” he notes.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
