Massive Spider From Asia Now Has Alabama Under Siege

Oh boy, as if we here in Alabama need another creepy crawler to add to the list of critters to be aware of.  Let’s talk about spiders. Just typing that made my skin crawl.  We have the brown recluse, southern black widow, and yellow sac spider, and now we have to add the invasive Joro spider to the list.  See Video by scrolling below.

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Now, this spider is native to Asia and was first spotted in Georgia around 2013. It has since spread to portions of Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina.  Now 2023 is here and so is the Joro spider! People have stated that the web from a Joro spider is not what we normally see as far as webs go.

The web is a golden color and is a huge 3-dimensional shape. The web itself is also thicker than what we are accustomed to. The web is as thick as a fishing line or a piece of thread. Unfortunately once the Joro spider has taken up residence at your home, the webs take over. They love spinning their webs and the webs are massive in size!

So now what? I have an image from the movie Arachnophobia running through my mind at the moment! How big is this spider? Well, it can grow to be several inches long. People describe it as “palm size”. That’s pretty big as far as I’m concerned.

Is it venomous? The unfortunate answer is yes. This spider is venomous, but there is a plus side to that. They have little fangs! What does that mean? It means it’s unlikely, but not impossible, for them to hurt us.

Meaning that this spider is not aggressive so it won’t seek us out to bite us, but be careful if you spot one because it can bite you or your pets.

So what should we Alabamians do? Unfortunately, once they make it to another state, they will continue to spread until they invade every state. Me, I know what I am going to do if I find one near my front door… Will you be one of those people who will enjoy watching this spider weave its webs or call an exterminator?