Oh, what a tangled web they’re weaving.
The Joro spider, which hails from Asia and was first spotted in Georgia about 10 years ago, is expected to make its way up the East Coast this spring, according to scientists at the University of Georgia.
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The spiders have spread across the southeastern part of the country, thanks to parachute-like silks and their habit for attaching themselves to cars.
“They can survive the cold better,” University of Georgia research scientist Andrew Davis told TODAY in an interview that aired Thursday. “They have a higher metabolism, they have a higher heart rate. So, we put all that together, and we figured that this species will probably be able to exist outside of the southeastern U.S.”
The Joro spider is quite large, growing up to 3 inches from end to end, which is roughly the size of someone’s palm. That, combined with the creature’s bright yellow, blue and red colors and fearsome looking webs, may scare people, but experts say these arachnids are not here to hurt us.