Have you seen a Joro spider in Georgia? Researchers Want Your Photos

On top of everything else that’s going on, now Georgia is being invaded by giant spiders.

If you live in north Georgia, there’s a good chance you’ve come face to cephalothorax with the Joro spider in the last few years. The behemoth black and yellow arachnids hitched a ride to Georgia from East Asia around 2014 and have been growing in population ever since – last year’s count from the University of Georgia’s Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health turned up more than 2,200 spiders, up from around 1,900 the year before.Joro spider distribution in the South. EDDMapS. 2025. Early Detection & Distribution Mapping System. The University of Georgia – Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. Available online at http://www.eddmaps.org/; last accessed October 2, 2025.

The actual population is likely much higher. Female Joros, whose leg span can exceed three inches, lay up to 500 eggs at a time starting in mid-October.

The eight-legged critter’s bite poses no danger to people or pets, and they are inclined to flee rather than fight when disturbed, though that’s likely cold comfort to anyone unlucky enough to wander face-first into their thick, sticky webs on a dark front porch or forest trail.

The little pests also don’t appear to pose any threat to Georgia crops or to its ecosystem, but the keyword is appear, said Rebekah Wallace with UGA’s Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.

“We don’t know that at this time. They’re still being researched,” she said.

With some invasive species like the honeybee-killing yellow-legged hornet, researchers know ahead of time that they are bad news.

“With Joro spiders, it wasn’t on the radar for most of the people doing this type of research,” Wallace said. “And so they’re still trying to understand what impacts they could be having. Whereas something that came in that is going to be a known impact on some of our crop species, they know ahead of time, ‘OK, this is going to impact this crop species, which is potentially going to have these economic impacts.’ But we didn’t have that kind of head start for Joro spiders.”

Citizens can help researchers track the spiders’ spread at jorowatch.org, which was developed by the University of Georgia, by filling out a form and attaching a photo.

Peak Joro spotting season lasts from August through October, and starting Monday and running through Oct. 12, people who submit Joro reports can enter their spider photos into a contest for bragging rights and spider stickers.

Wallace said the contest is a big help in collecting data – last year’s contest period brought in more than 500 confirmed reports.

Wallace said people often confuse Joros with a native species of spider called the golden silk orb weaver, but there are some ways to tell them apart.

For Joros, the back of the adult female’s abdomen is yellow with bluish-green bands, and its belly is black and yellow with a reddish splotch. Their legs are usually black and yellow, but occasionally all black.

For golden silk orb weavers, the body is more orange with whitish, silvery spots, and the legs are yellow with brownish bands.

“And the bands have huge tufts of hair on them,” Wallace said about the orb weavers. “They look like they’re wearing leg warmers.”

Experts say some invasive bugs like the Spotted Lanternfly are too dangerous to be allowed to live and should be killed on sight, but the Joro is not in this category.

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