How Does the Invasive Joro Spider Work?

Residents of the American South may have noticed a new spider on the, er, web -- the beautiful, fascinating Joro spider. Learn about it in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/arachnids/joro-spider.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Hey brain Stuff Lauren vogel bum here, an invasive species
of spider is making itself comfortable in parts of the
southern United States. But don't let the Joro spider give
you the creepy Crawley's just yet. Between its golden webs
and it's tarzan esque silk swinging tactics to track down

(00:24):
a mate, this arachnet is a fascinating and as far
as we know, harmless addition to the ecosystem, or unless
you happen to be a stink bug. The Joro spider
is native to East Asia, in Japan and South Korea.
It's common names translate to things like entangling or binding
bride and fortune teller spider, which reflect the beauty and

(00:47):
intrigue of this orb weaver. The males are smaller and
pretty drab, but the females feature yellow and bluish green
bands across the body orangish bands on the spanning legs,
and a bright red underbole. This spider can't actually tell
your fortune, but she can weave a beautiful basket shaped
web that reflects gold in the sunlight. Along with electronics

(01:12):
and bananas, Exotic plants and critters like the Joro spider
are known to hitchhike on America bound commodities, especially in
shipping containers. Now, the Jora exists in twenty five counties
in Georgia and parts of South Carolina. In some cases,
homeowners have hundreds around their homes. They prefer to make
their webs high in trees and have been found in forests,

(01:34):
urban woods, porchlights, wooden decks, bushes, tall weeds, and even
on the vinyl siding of homes. Their ability to adapt
natural habitats and food sources in Georgia and South Carolina
has allowed their numbers to swell. However, it's only a
matter of time before predators catch up with the new resident.

(01:54):
For the article, this episode is based on how Stuff
Work spoke with Paul Gillibo, a professor of entomology at
the University of Georgia. He said, I think the spiders
have spread so quickly here because predators, parasites, and diseases
have not caught up with them yet. If there is
a new large food resource like the booming spider population,
something will ultimately take advantage. So, in other words, it's

(02:18):
just a matter of time before birds or parasitic wasps
figure out there's a new meal in town. Jora spiders
tend to build webs close to each other, which helps
the mating process. Since males don't make their own webs,
a function that's left to the females to mate, males
must pursue females, albeit carefully. They may use a gossamer

(02:40):
and float on a breeze from tree to tree until
a female is within sight, or until they spot a
less male occupied web. It's kind of cute to think
of this spider as a little Tarzan swinging from tree
to tree to find his Jane, but that's where the
romanticism ends. If a male spider isn't careful, he may
become dinner instead. Gilibo said. The male will make a

(03:04):
little web and deposit sperm there, and then suck up
the sperm and structures near the mouth. Then the male
tries to find a receptive female. The males are almost
always smaller, so it's tricky business to make your move
without being eaten. Gilibo says he's seen males around his
house wait until a female is busy eating an insect
before he approaches, which may be safer. Though the joro

(03:28):
spider was first spotted in Georgia, it's still too early
to understand it's big picture impact on the environment. So far, however,
they seem to be thriving on a diet of stink
bugs and other flying insects, which is actually appreciated by
farmers whose crops can suffer from stink bug infestations. As
or weavers, they will naturally compete with other or weavers

(03:51):
for prey, but since they often weave their webs higher
than other spiders, they may be catching different kinds of prey.
Jorro spy ers are venomous like all spiders, but they
aren't dangerous to you or your pets, and will only
bite if they're scared enough to do so. Gilibo said.
Even if you walk into a joro web, it will

(04:11):
try to escape rather than attack you. If you catch
a joro in your hand, it may bite you out
of fear. If I were caught by a giant, i'd
probably bite. If you do get bitten, you may be
a bit uncomfortable, but it's not as bad as a
brown recluse or a black widow. So what should you
do if you see one? You may be tempted to

(04:31):
kill it, but instead try being more curious. Gilibo suggests.
He said, have a look at it every couple of days.
Show your children they're fascinating to watch a toss an
insect into the web if you want to see them
in action, and don't kill spiders or anything else for
no good reason. We're all playing our role in the ecosystem.

(04:55):
Today's episode is based on the article the invasive fortune
teller Joro Spider is getting Cozy in the US Own
House to works dot com, written by Alison Troutner. Brain
Stuff is production of I Heart Radio and partnership with
how stuff works dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang.
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