Have You Spotted These Giant Joro Spiders in Your Area?

[BWV]

apologies for the clickbaity title, the Asian Joro spider, a relative of the native golden orb weaver, has been spreading from GA for about a decade. The spiders thrive in Japan's temperate climate, which means they can eventually spread throughout the US, unlike the Golden Orb Weaver, which is limited to the humid and warm Southeast. The spiders are harmless and beautiful -anyone seen one in their area?

more info at:
https://extension.psu.edu/joro-spiders

Jorō spiders do not have medically important bites. The fangs of jorō spiders are small and have difficulty piercing human skin. The spiders themselves are reluctant biters and it can be difficult to make them bite you even when the spiders are handled. The venom is weak, so when bites do occur they are less painful than a bee sting and only produce localized pain and redness that dissipates quickly without intervention. The author could not find any published reports of allergic reactions associated with jorō spider bites, although some people may be allergic to the venom.

This is the native Golden Orb Weaver, can see the difference in coloration:

 

[.Scott]

I've never seen a joro.
If it has a well-formed web with a long zig zag, it's the common Argiope (Garden Spider).
So look for much thinner web.

 

[BWV]

I've never seen a joro.
If it has a well-formed web with a long zig zag, it's the common Argiope (Garden Spider).
So look for much thinner web.

And much bigger - the Trichonephila genus (Joro and Golden Orb Weaver) webs can be 10+ feet in diameter

 

[.Scott]

And much bigger - the Trichonephila genus (Joro and Golden Orb Weaver) webs can be 10+ feet in diameter

That is bigger. I've seen an Argiope web span a four-foot wide path through a field - completely blocking it - because who wants to destroy that kind of art.

 

[BWV]

Went out to a park outside of Houston, was looking for some Golden Orbweavers, but instead found these Argiope: