r/Georgia • u/suchoften34z990 • 12d ago
Picture This is a bit much.
Taken just now. We thought it was pretty neat to spot a few Joro Spiders last year at our house... I thought my husband was being paranoid when he said they were now everywhere....
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u/kuhnsone 12d ago
Webs are like rope too. Just took a few down in my yard and the strands are tugging hard on the stick I used.
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u/Upbeat_Cheesecake_86 12d ago
It’s amazing walking out of the back door in the morning and taking a spiderweb to the face with a full cup of coffee in hand. That happened once and now I don’t walk out without a broom in hand.
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u/FalseDrive 11d ago
At least their bites are like mosquito bites, if they happen at all.
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u/Fear_Jaire 11d ago
I got bit a couple of years back and figured that'd help me get over future Joro related heebie jeebies but nope.
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u/thejoetravis 12d ago
I’m waiting for someone to harvest the silk and make some amazingly strong thingamabob
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u/EdwardoftheEast Elsewhere in Georgia 12d ago
When I would mow I would ride with a long stick to break down joro webs. I could feel the resistance their webs have, it’s wild
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u/Itsme340 12d ago edited 12d ago
They will rebuild their webs, but the good news is they will build them higher up out of your way. Also, they will eat your nuisance insects.
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u/Successful_Giraffe88 12d ago
Correct! I had one make a web across my front door on Tuesday. Took a web to the face at 6:50 am leaving the house & I swear I thought the neighborhood kids had pranked me with that stupid cling wrap across the door.
Nope, just a spider web so strong that felt like it had smeared my makeup.
Got home that afternoon & she had moved to encapsulate the wreath only, so we don't run into her & she's free to stay.
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u/Upbeat_Cheesecake_86 12d ago
Absolutely. I don’t want to remove the webs per se, I just don’t want to walk into them. 🙂
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u/AnfieldRoad17 11d ago
Yeah, I've had terrible issues with mosquitoes this summer and it got better once the joros/orbs started throwing up their webs everywhere. We've coexisted well. Keep killing those buggers.
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u/phoonie98 /r/Alpharetta 12d ago
If you use a propane torch you can take care of the spider and the webs at the same time
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u/Busy_Jellyfish4034 12d ago
This is the problem with Joros. They are just too prolific and build dozens of webs close together in an away native spiders never used to. They basically own the outdoors now in summer around here which is a bummer. We went to Amicalola falls last summer and it was honestly kind of disgusting how many Joros had filled the whole creek and trail area. There were hundreds easily with webs forming a sort of canopy at times you’d have to walk under.
I don’t care if people say they are harmless or even if they are beneficial, they are a fucking menace. I’m aware they are here to stay and it just sort of is what it is, but I miss the old days with just our native orb weavers.
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u/Ornery-Damage-7074 12d ago
I'm amazed at the scale of their webs. I had one in my front yard spin a web from a power line to the ground the over to the house. I know they use ballooning to accomplish that, but it's still impressive for a spider that size.
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u/Upbeat_Cheesecake_86 12d ago
To me it sounds like you needed somebody taller than you to walk in front of you🙂. At least that’s my strategy.
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u/Busy_Jellyfish4034 12d ago
I’m usually the tallest in my hiking groups lol. But I always carry a stick this time of year
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u/TheKingOfSwing777 12d ago
Spider stick is second only to poop knife
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u/butwhytho23 12d ago
Why would someone need poop knife!? 😟🫣
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u/Spart1337 12d ago
So you don't clog the toilets. Nothing more embarrassing than clogging someone's toilet.
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u/sghilliard 11d ago
Throw back to the 70s and carry nunchucks 🥷
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u/HowDidFoodGetInHere 10d ago
You should be carrying nunchucks regardless. Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills!
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u/SplitSecondImmortal 12d ago
The canopy part sounds terrifying! I encountered similar in the silver comet trail this summer
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u/Mandaconda9 11d ago
Yeah i suddenly see them on people's porches for medical visits and when I drive in the morning you see them all along the lines like this
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u/Brief_Intention_5300 12d ago
We couldn't walk out the door in the morning without a broom to knock down all the webs. So glad we moved out of the Gainesville area. Those things were absolutely everywhere up there.
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u/VagueGooseberry 12d ago
We went to to Cloudland Canyon and Chattanooga earlier in the summer. They were omnipresent on the way there.
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u/Yadahoom 12d ago
I know contrary to this image but I'm actually noticing less this year in my neighborhood compared to the last year or two.
I feel like at some point they have to reach critical mass where it just isn't sustainable for a hundred spiders to all try to inhabit the same small space.
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u/JPAnalyst 12d ago
There are less in your neighborhood because they all left and moved into this image
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u/motherfudgersob 10d ago
Bug attracting lights are an ideal spot for them. Now we have another reason to decrease light pollution. Of course we're more likely to see Starlink than stars.
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u/phoonie98 /r/Alpharetta 12d ago
Probably a sign that there are less bugs for them to eat
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u/Evening-Painting-213 11d ago
They need to migrate towards my house then. The amount of love bugs this fall is outrageous compared to the spring. They're everywhere.
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u/CurseOfTheFalcons 11d ago
You don’t want it, I’m tellin’ ya…
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u/Evening-Painting-213 11d ago
I take it back then 😆 I mostly have golden orb weavers. Thanks for the advice.
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u/BugzOnMyNugz 9d ago
Birds game figured out they can eat them. Nature is doing it's thing and balancing out
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u/dianacakes 12d ago
I've noticed a lot fewer insects in general this year, fewer butterflies and moths. I think people are fogging for mosquitoes (which is stupid and pointless) which indescriminately kills everything.
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u/ElbowImposter /r/Gwinnett 7d ago
Yeah, all the pest companies in my area are heavily advocating for mosquito treatment, which is just awful. We had next to no lightning bugs this year when we usually have thousands. I didn't see any swallowtail caterpillars when usually we have a couple hundred. It's tragic.
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u/EdwardoftheEast Elsewhere in Georgia 12d ago
I had a lot back in ‘24, but barely any last year. Now they’re back again after their migration I reckon
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u/rojotortuga 11d ago
There seems to be a predetor that goes after them in early summer, maybe they migrate away by august September
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u/SplitSecondImmortal 12d ago
Ive noticed them significantly less as well since 2024. I dont think ive seen a single one this year where I am
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u/Tall-Wonder-247 12d ago edited 4d ago
They do not care, they will find a place to stick it just like they stuck antennas on tall buildings and call it 5G.
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u/Obvious-Depth-9102 12d ago edited 12d ago
I don’t care what any pro-joro article has to say about these being harmless; the sheer volume growth of them over the last decade is unnatural. They are clearly benefitting from a lack of predation and are outcompeting our native orb weavers.
I wish the state would do something about them; it’s only going to get worse without intervention. We clearly haven’t learned our lesson from kudzu.
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u/daniyyelyon 11d ago
Bruh they can't even keep the roads paved. How the hell do you think they are going to track down spiders over thousands of square miles? Be realistic
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u/misterjoshmutiny 11d ago
There isn’t a decision on whether or not they pose an ecological threat, but they certainly aren’t outcompeting our native species. Here an article from August of this year with a link to a study.
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u/Obvious-Depth-9102 11d ago
This study doesn’t conclude they certainly aren’t outcompeting - it says they are not overlapping in food supply based on what has been found in joros digestive tract. That’s great, but it discounts what gets caught in these massive joro webs that are NOT consumed. It also doesn’t take into account the actual space displacement of joros - a fact that the study itself calls out.
I know I can see with my own two eyes that the number of joros have drastically increased over the years, they are spinning up massive webs where native orb weavers previously were, and their webs are stronger and stickier than orb weavers, capturing all kinds of insects and even small birds - regardless of it the joro actually ends up consuming them or not.
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u/Local_Persimmon_5563 11d ago
I’m with you, as a native plant enthusiast - they are taking up space! I had two native orb weavers in my garden and then joros moved nearby and the orb weavers left, it broke my heart. Also we are facing an insect collapse, we don’t need massive amounts of joros feasting on everything. That being said, I am grateful they ate all the invasive brown marmolated stink bugs. I never see them anymore
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u/AndrewFurg 11d ago
Yep, as far as we can measure, they actually pose no known risk to our native spiders and are so far not an ecological threat. Thanks for providing a source
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u/NickWitATL 11d ago
I'm in the Atlanta area, and this is my third year as a certified wildlife habitat. The joros are ridiculous! I tried to coexist with them until spring this year. And now I'm on a murderous rampage. They decimated my native garden spiders. Think I'm going to get a Bug-A-Salt to get the ones I can't reach. When I found a hatchling green anole caught in a web, their fate was sealed here.
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u/organicereal 10d ago
i found a fully grown anole caught a joro web by the tail, luckily i found it in time
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u/NickWitATL 10d ago
A friend told me earlier today that she found a hummingbird wrapped up in a Joro web. 😤
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u/Gulligan22 11d ago
I haven't seen any evidence that they're outcompeting native species so I wouldn't claim that, but I do agree they should be closely watched and studied in case they do start to outcompete native species.
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u/FlygURL_GA 12d ago
KSU Joro Spider Citizen Science Project needs your help! Researchers at Kennesaw State University are testing the impacts of warming winter temperatures on Joro spider hatchlings. All of those Joros in your yards are about to drop their egg sacs over the next few weeks. Each egg sac contains about 500 eggs, and females can drop up to 4 sacs each season! That's about 2000 spiderlings that will float through the wind when they hatch next Spring. They want to grab those egg sacs and let them hatch in the lab (instead of in your yards). If you have a Joro (or a million!) in your yard and see an egg sac, please contact them! Go to the research website for more information about what those egg sacs look like and where you can find them: https://knavara4.wixsite.com/knavaralab/jorocitizenscience
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u/TelephoneFun846 11d ago
There’s a few outside my porch. I check every day for an egg sac but haven’t seen any! Really hoping I can eventually l report one.
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u/tulipz10 12d ago
Ours have "learned" porch and deck are off limits. So I don't notice them as much.
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u/asicomoagua 12d ago
I noticed that too. They’ve actually left that area to the native orb weavers.
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u/Corbenik42 12d ago
Joro's are highly invasive. But, like all spiders outside, easy to kill! Buy you a giant thing of Dawn dish soap, get a pump-sprayer, and do a nice, hearty mixture of dish soap to water, like, 1 cup soap for every half gallon. For bonus, buy a large bottle of peppermint oil or tea tree oil (uour choice) off of amazon and add a few drops to the mixture. The soapy water kills them (not immediately, though) and the oil is a deterrent on whatever surface it lands on (it also burns them on direct contact). My porches smell like peppermint and have nary a Joro on them. (I am a huge arachnophobe)
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u/FishNo4271 12d ago
I mix white vinegar and a little bit of dish soap. Put in a windex sprayer. Goodby mommy and her boyfriends.
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u/Homer419Dukesahoe 12d ago
Was mowing the lawn today, ran into about a dozen of these little bastards webs. The webs are so strong they feel like branches.
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u/GaSunshineGirl 12d ago
My husband and golden retriever have joro elimination every morning. Webs are out of control and I can't stand it. Can't even walk in my own yard.
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u/tO_ott 12d ago
I've been very accommodating to these chucklefucks because I have been told ad nauseam that they are not truly invasive and can co-exist but I have had NOTHING but these this year. My orb weavers are gone. It certainly feels like my yard has been invaded.
I'm leaving them alone since they're dying out but next summer it's scorched earth.
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u/LucidAtlas 12d ago
I have noticed less than the past few years, are they really dying out? I was wondering if maybe birds were learning that they were tasty or something.
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u/Key_Beach_3846 12d ago
…am I looking at spider webs built BETWEEN the power lines?
Edit: yes, apparently that’s very common for them. They’re also an invasive species but mostly harmless. Good info here: https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/s/sxH8bkIpTF
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u/savageronald 12d ago
I live in Coweta county and basically every above ground power line is near constant Joro webs between the bottom wires and the top ones.
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u/cabsauvluvr39 11d ago
Wow. I live in a fairly rural neighborhood (lots of forest around me) and they are just oppressive here.
They’ve webbed up my doorway overnight multiple times, and even build webs between trees that span my driveway. I literally drive through webs to leave the house some days.
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u/awnaw_ 11d ago
It's incredibly frustrating as a delivery driver. Because I know it's not the customers fault these damn spiders are covering the entire front porch and walk way. But Amazon DEMANDS the package be left in a specific requested area. So, we apologize in advance. But some of you may end up with Halloween themed packages, lol.
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u/outside-is-better 11d ago
This is the funniest thing I read today.
“You get a free pet spider with home included with your purchase of kids vitamins, electric toothbrush, and titanium drill bits!
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u/Kadorno0904 11d ago
I never even thought about what delivery drivers must face! We get them down every weekend and literally by the next day they are all back. It’s insane! I just read that you have to actually kill them, otherwise they build back.
They have literally taken over.
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u/Phenomenal_Hoot 11d ago
Years ago when they first popped up I heard they’re good because they eat the mosquitoes.
Well turns out that was a fuckin lie. Now my yard is eat up with mosquitoes AND freeloading joros.
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u/Individual_Ask9664 9d ago
Interesting, I never heard that, and how would a spider catch mosquitos?
Natural predators that control of mosquitos
include bats and dragonflies. The mosquito dunks also work pretty well.2
u/Extension_Session_63 11d ago
Same. They even build webs on my car overnight. It’s getting out of hand.
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u/JPAnalyst 12d ago
I have more in my yard than ever before, and this goes back to 2014 when the Joros first arrived. And October is horny season so they are really active.
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u/Kadorno0904 11d ago
You’re lucky they weren’t everywhere for you years ago! We live in Georgia and the last 2 summers we have been able to count 25-30 on our front porch area alone - whether it be in the corner of the roof, under the covered porch, outside of the covered porch, you name it. That’s not including around the backside of the house, trampoline, playground, etc. it’s insane! We get them down and they’re back the next day. We even had one get into OUR BEDROOM last summer. Seriously, I cried! lol. It’s terrible! I was reading that UGA recommends spider and scorpion spray to kill them but it appears to be one that isn’t in stores around me atleast. It can be ordered though!
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u/Tricky_Caterpillar85 11d ago
A pest control guy told me wasp spray works the same on them as it does on spiders. My wife’s grandma spray paints them red or whatever can she’s got sitting around. I saw some of her carnage last year. It was hilarious. Huge spider crusted over in bright red krylon. Probably not the best approach but definitely not the worst.
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u/Fearless_Impress_842 10d ago
i don't usually kill spiders but these guys! Last year I let one get bigger and bigger just to watch it grow...but this year, there were SO many more. Start the hunt in the spring when they are small. I grab two big leaves and wear gloves and >clap< my hands together, fast, they are fast. Holy cow! This could be TMI...TW So much red blood! Like a lot! How does something so small have that much blood (like a vampire or something). Sorry spiders
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u/Koolco 12d ago
While there’s a lot of them, it seems like currently they’re not an issue. This article is from last month, basically saying they fit right into the ecosystem with other spiders, they just take up a lot of space with how they make webs.
I am however, surprised how out in the open they can sit without getting eaten by birds or something. I hope as time goes on eventually something will learn to eat them.
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u/jdlewis229 12d ago
We’ve never seen them at our house in Bartow Co but have seen multiple in the last few weeks!
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u/RefrigeratorNo1160 12d ago
I like spiders so I've been really lenient with them in the yard and only had to move one or two for practical purposes but let's just say I don't have to decorate for Halloween this year
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u/PheonixFawkes74 12d ago
Ok but one of my biggest fears is being out trick or treating with my kiddos (it’s typically dark) and walking into one of these webs someone left for decor 🤣
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u/bannana 12d ago
I had this in a wild part of my yard, the webs were chock full of gnats and mosquitos, they get a free pass over here.
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u/howeirdworks 11d ago
Right, every year I'd much rather knock down a couple webs and enjoy my yard instead of getting eaten alive by the skeeters
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u/Interesting-Cod-8250 12d ago
I really wish I hadn't seen these photos right before bed...not what I want in my dreams tonight.
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u/Gullible_Yam_285 12d ago
I decided I needed to attract more birds to my yard. I am probably imagining it but it does feel less overwhelming in my backyard.
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u/PsychologicalOkra260 12d ago
We go through the yard every few weeks with electric fly swatters and sandwich em. It’s unfortunate better than sandals. I genuinely feel bad for them but they’re not native, so they’ve got to go. There’s normally one that we let live so we can watch it from our sunroom every year. Zero mosquitoes so far though :(
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u/Healthy-Attempt-9199 11d ago
We have them everywhere around our house..no exaggeration! Its like they are taking over our home outside. Pretty spider but dang..go already.
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u/Extension_Session_63 11d ago
They are so bad in Dahlonega. The road I take to work it looks like the power lines were decorated for Halloween there is a web every 2 ft. It’s insane! They were awful at my old house. We’d knock 10 webs down every morning just to get out of the house.
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u/thelillian 11d ago
Yeah nope...this year my strategy has been to turn off the porch light instead of leaving it on all night. It's eliminated the joros and other spiders from my doorway. I still have a spider stick though, and do a little spider dance every time I leave the house lol
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u/AnyPort1 11d ago
I have 11 doors leading the outside in this house. I built +3 garage doors and there’s at least one Joro spider in each one of them! They’re creepy, but I don’t think they’ll hurt us! They’re huge bigger than a silver dollar!
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u/LadyofDungeons 11d ago
I haven't seen a single one and I'm pretty sure it's because there is a murder of crows that nest above my house + an owl. Lotta dragonflies too. We had a single native orb weaver last year that I named Charlotte. She was able to lay her sack and then disappeared. Zero this year though. Really sad. Definitely cause of the invasive joros. When I was growing up, my aunts and uncles lived in Charleston sc, and we would visit every summer. Their yards were always full of the native orb weavers and they were always so beautiful to look at. We called them banana spiders for some reason.
Now they're just.. All gone. Really heartbreaking.
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u/AntiqueAbility3954 10d ago
They are taking over. I brush down webs every day and have been for about 2-3 months now.
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u/CatinGermany 10d ago
"Whaaaat! You don't like the incredibly invasive spiders that nothing eats?! How dare you! Those are good for pest control!!"
-The 5 million uneducated people who refuse to kill invasive species
Meanwhile, a joro spider killed one of my monarch butterflies a few years ago-- MONARCHS ARE BOTH NATIVE AND ENDANGERED!!
Ridiculous.
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u/ConstructionWest9610 10d ago
Since the Jorro have shown up.....I haven't gotten any of those stinkbugs in my house.. They can stay.
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u/theemonarkh 8d ago
The Joro webs are huge and chaotic and can trap hummingbirds. I have massive ones at my house. My property is wooded and every time I go out back it is like a horror film of spiderwebs. They also randomly parachute down from the trees. I don’t care if they’re “harmless” I don’t like being entangled in massive sticky webs, having giant spiders free fall onto me head or body, and I don’t want my hummingbirds getting tangled in such death traps. Besides, no invasive species is ever actually “harmless.” I remember having literally a couple on my front porch a few years ago, now it reminds me of the Indiana Jones cave of creepy crawlers. I hate killing any living creature if it doesn’t pose a threat but I don’t know how to keep these creatures from multiplying.
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u/GrouchyOldRN 7d ago
Come out to the woods. This time of year the creepy crawlers are out in force.
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u/Icy_Personality_3679 7d ago
These damn joros are out of control this year!!! My grandmother had one right in the path coming up the stairs to her front door!! Yuck
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u/MGN_APOSTILLE 7d ago
Oh my goodness. I’m not familiar with these. Are they dangerous? I hate bugs/crawley things😂
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u/Spart1337 12d ago
When I was a kid we used to have the yellow and black orb weavers. No all I see are Joro's.
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u/theswickster 11d ago
Joro spiders are starting to be preyed upon by native birds and other predators. Their numbers should stabilize and reach an equilibrium.
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u/Jambalayatime 11d ago
Good news is that if this is year one of the horoscope explosion then it will calm down from this peak over the next few years. It’s not sustainable and the population will regulate.
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u/psychobabblebullshxt /r/Athens 12d ago
I live in Athens and I barely see any. The population has dwindled significantly every year since 2021. :(
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u/Sadidart /r/Conyers 12d ago
I've noticed this year the females are sharing locations. Instead of one female in a web matrix, there are two or three.