NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Joro Spiders, a type of invasive spider, are making their way toward New York by hitchhiking on the I-95 and they've been spotted as far North as Maryland, according to experts.
The spiders, originating from East Asia, first arrived in the U.S. in 2013 through shipping containers and have since spread across several states including Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Maryland.
Measuring up to three inches across, these spiders can create webs up to six feet wide. They are known for their ability to use their webs as parachutes to travel through the air, a phenomenon referred to as "ballooning."
"Joro spiders use a method of dispersal called ballooning,” Jose Ramirez-Garofalo, an ecologist in the Lockwood Lab at Rutgers University, told 1010 WINS. “And that's where you have individual spiders that shoot out a web into the wind and are carried potentially hundreds of miles away from where they started.”
While they may seem terrifying with their eight-inch leg span, these spiders actually have some benefits. They prey on Spotted Lanternflies, which have become a nuisance in New York City. Additionally, they are not harmful to humans and are more likely to be found outdoors.
"Joro spiders don't have a medically significant bite,” Ramirez-Garofalo said. "They're also very reclusive in terms of their behavior. So they're more likely to just run away than to bite a human."