It's a guessing game as to where the Japanese Joro spider will go next. It's already in Georgia, North and South Carolina and Tennessee, and it's itching to go north, thanks to climate change.
The colorful species has a five-inch leg span and weaves a web that is six- to 10-feet wide, leading some people to freak out.
“I think freaking out is just a natural response, especially when you run into it face-on or really close up,” says University of Cincinnati Professor of Biological Sciences George Uetz, Ph.d. “They are harmless. It’s important to know they’re not aggressive animals.”
Uetz says the Joro is not poisonous.
You might run into it if hiking in the woods. “Because these are spiders that will build in open spaces, like between trees and the like. People may run into them when they are walking, hiking or riding horseback,” he says.
They are unlikely to be inside a building.
Uetz points out the Joro does eat things you might not like, including other spiders and cicadas.
You have time to prepare. Uetz says it may be five years or more, if and when, the Joro travels to Greater Cincinnati.
