Faith-manor Posted June 4 Posted June 4 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/joro-spiders-new-york-giant-venomous-spiders-spread-east-coast/ I am not looking forward to seeing these. But I am sure it is coming to my state soon. 4 Quote
wintermom Posted June 4 Posted June 4 Please don't cross the border into Ontario! We will freeze your legs off. 🥶 2 Quote
Annie G Posted June 4 Posted June 4 They’ve been here in Georgia for about 10 years. The most annoying part is the webs are STRONG. And can be large. We have joro sticks that we use to take the webs down. Last year they decided to build webs over my porch entrance, so every morning we had to remove them if we wanted to go out that way. They’re so strong and sticky that a long stick is a good tool. The females are beautiful. It’s so hit or miss here- last year they were manageable, likely due to way too much rain. But the year before there were hundreds just on our garage eaves alone. Thankfully they aren’t aggressive, don’t come inside, and are usually several feet off the ground. 5 Quote
El... Posted June 5 Posted June 5 Aaaaaagh!!!!😳 It does say they don't hurt people or pets, so far. But wow, those are startling. 1 Quote
ScoutTN Posted June 5 Posted June 5 Ick! More of Ungoliant’s or Aragog’s descendants are not needed or wanted! Seem like they belong in Australia where so many all other creepy, venomous things seem to congregate. (Sorry, Aussies! You have an uneven share of bad bugs and beasties!) 5 Quote
Arcadia Posted June 5 Posted June 5 2 hours ago, ScoutTN said: Seem like they belong in Australia where so many all other creepy, venomous things seem to congregate. (Sorry, Aussies! You have an uneven share of bad bugs and beasties!) @Annie G This one seems to hail mainly from Georgia https://jorowatch.org/ Quote
Annie G Posted June 5 Posted June 5 @Arcadia I live a few miles from where it was first found in the US, which explains why we have more than other areas. I’m pretty surprised they haven’t spread farther. When we moved back to GA five years ago the expectation was they’d be all up the eastern coast by now. What annoys me is that they’re invasive and yet nobody seems to be trying to find a way to eradicate them. They just tell us to remove the webs around our bird feeders or birdbaths. So I walk around waving a long stick…yeah that doesn’t make me look crazy at all. And rejoice in November when they’re gone for the year. Quote
ScoutTN Posted June 5 Posted June 5 8 hours ago, Arcadia said: @Annie G This one seems to hail mainly from Georgia https://jorowatch.org/ WAY too close to TN! 😱 Quote
Arcadia Posted June 5 Posted June 5 7 hours ago, Annie G said: They just tell us to remove the webs around our bird feeders or birdbaths. So I walk around waving a long stick…yeah that doesn’t make me look crazy at all. https://site.caes.uga.edu/entomologyresearch/2022/10/managing-joro-spiders-in-the-landscape/ “Only the aerosols designed to target wasp and hornet nests have the range to reach a web up under the eaves of even a tall one-story house. The aerosol Black Flag Spider and Scorpion Killer (a.i. lambda-cyhalothrin 0.03% and prallethrin 0.025%) was 100% effective. An aerosol called Zevo Spider and Wasp spray was very effective (>97% mortality) also. The Zevo has geraniol and cinnamon oil as active ingredients and has the added benefit of smelling pretty good. The pre-mixed (RTU) pyrethroid (Sevin brand spray is 0.002% lambda-cyhalothrin) and Green Light Insecticidal Soap (in a manual spray bottle) were also effective (>80% mortality). Both of those products require that you spray from a foot or so away from the target, so that’s a drawback if you really don’t want to get close to the spider. Two or three squirts with a spray bottle are effective on small to medium spiders, but larger spiders require 5 or so. The aerosols (Black Flag and Zevo) were effective with just a brief blast. Dawn dishwashing soap at 1% solution in water was not very effective (40% mortality). Many other homeowner products have synthetic pyrethroid insecticides as the active ingredients (cypermethrin, lambda cyhalothrin, bifenthrin, etc.) and can be purchased as RTU or in concentrate form that the homeowner can mix in a pump-up style garden or backpack sprayer. Previous experience has shown these ingredients are all effective at killing spiders if applied directly to the target. Once dry on the substrate (leaf, wall, etc.) they are not very effective for web spiders because they do not eat or come in contact with the residues. Pyrethroids are also toxic to lots of other things besides bugs and spiders. Spraying one spider at a time minimizes the impact, but those are the same chemicals used by pest control companies to treat for mosquitoes and other bugs in the yard so if you are not comfortable with that approach then maybe that’s not the best choice.” 2 Quote
TravelingChris Posted June 5 Posted June 5 When I read this yesterday, they did mention it came from Georgia (invasive from overseas) and that it was in aclot of southern states already including Alabama. But I had never seen one. @Arcadia thank you for the map above. It is only in a tiny area of AL and nowhere near me. Quote
Faith-manor Posted June 5 Author Posted June 5 If we get these AND murder hornets, I am going to go live underground! 😱 1 Quote
kokotg Posted June 5 Posted June 5 (edited) I love the joros. They're pretty, their webs are pretty, they're super chill and don't bother anyone. I've been following this guy who's been studying them at UGA for a couple of years now; basically, it's likely they won't have a big negative effect on local ecosystems, and there's nothing we can do about them at this point anyway. We've had several with webs we can watch from our windows for the past few years now, and we enjoy our spider friends. https://news.uga.edu/joro-spiders-likely-to-spread-beyond-georgia/ Quote Joros don’t appear to have much of an effect on local food webs or ecosystems, said Andy Davis, corresponding author of the study and a research scientist in the Odum School of Ecology. They may even serve as an additional food source for native predators like birds. “People should try to learn to live with them,” he said. “If they’re literally in your way, I can see taking a web down and moving them to the side, but they’re just going to be back next year.” “The way I see it, there’s no point in excess cruelty where it’s not needed,” added Benjamin Frick, co-author of the study and an undergraduate researcher in the School of Ecology. “You have people with saltwater guns shooting them out of the trees and things like that, and that’s really just unnecessary.” https://news.uga.edu/joro-spiders-are-shy/ Edited June 5 by kokotg 1 Quote
kokotg Posted June 5 Posted June 5 (edited) Incidentally, pretty much all of the scary, click-bait-y language in that headline and article seem to be taken directly from...a pest control company's website. Like, they're "venomous" in the sense that they kill insects before eating them. And flying? "What sets them apart, however, is their ability to fly, a trait uncommon among spiders," the company said. "While not accurate flight in the avian sense, Joro spiders utilize a technique known as ballooning, where they release silk threads into the air, allowing them to be carried by the wind." Ah, yes. I remember this kind of "flying" from those scary baby spiders at the end of Charlotte's Web. Edited June 5 by kokotg 3 Quote
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