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Giant Joro ‘flying’ spider continues march northward with Massachusetts sighting
By Sarah Rumpf-Whitten
Published September 26, 2024
A palm-sized, brightly colored invasive species has made its way to Massachusetts – with one being spotted in Boston's historic Beacon Hill neighborhood.
According to WCVB, resident Joe Schifferdecker recently spotted the distinctive bright-yellow bands on the spider's black legs in his neighborhood.
"It's surprising that it's in the middle of Boston on [a] main street and yet this is supposedly the first one in all of Massachusetts that's been sighted," Schifferdecker told the outlet.
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A yellow Joro spider in its web. (iStock)
Earlier in the summer, scientists warned that the invasive species could make its move from the South into the Northeast. The Joro spider's Boston appearance this week is its northernmost sighting.
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But spider experts say people shouldn’t be too worried about the venomous East Asian arthropod, which gives an illusion of "flying" through the air with its elaborate silk webs.
"My sense is people like the weird and fantastic and potentially dangerous," said David Nelsen, a professor of biology at Southern Adventist University who has studied the growing range of Joro spiders, which has been on the move in the U.S. for the last decade. "This is one of those things that sort of checks all the boxes for public hysteria."
The Joro spider, a large spider native to East Asia, is spotted in Johns Creek, Ga., in 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Sanz, File)
What is the Joro spider?
The Joro spider is one of a group of spiders called orb-weavers, named for their wheel-shaped webs.
They're native to East Asia, have bright yellow and black coloring and females can be three to six inches long when fully stretched out, and are double the size of males.
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They pose no threat to humans.
Adult Joro spiders are usually spotted between August and September.
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