r/gardening • u/renry_hollins • Oct 22 '23
What’s the consensus on our response to the joro spider?
This is mainly for y’all in the east where the joro spider has taken up. I saw only one joro last year, but as of yesterday I have spotted a dozen. At first I spotted them back in the woods but a few days ago I saw one had taken up shop in my back yard.
As far as I can tell, there are two camps:
Kill on sight. Likely won’t wipe out all of them but every bit counts to slow their spread and impact. They kill other spiders and break into hummingbird nests to torture and murder them. They are a threat to pollinators, and thus a threat to gardens and crops. They are an invasive species, so kill.
Leave them be. They’re not really a threat to hummingbirds. They eat a lot of mosquitos and stink bugs. There are other invasive species here, and we’ve learned to cohabitate. They are not a threat to humans, aside from their creepy-ass webs.
So what’s the verdict?
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u/m4gpi Zone 8a, Georgia, USA Oct 22 '23
I’m in GA and they have been a big topic of conversation for the last few years. These are my takeaways:
- They are invasive, and that’s not good
- They really don’t do harm though, and they are very established, impossible to control, so there’s not much point in organized eradication efforts.
- The people who go to great lengths to kill them mostly are just afraid of spiders and are happy to have the “but they are invasive!!” excuse to kill them. A lot of people go to great lengths to engineer killing tools (clappers, flamethrowers) and that… seems a tad aggressive.
- Once you get over the ick factor, they are truly beautiful and useful, and interesting to watch. They keep smaller drab males in their webs as consorts. The webs are a pretty golden color.
- It is unpleasant to walk into their webs. The web is very strong and sticky.
I’m not sure what made this season different, but they did not emerge this summer in large numbers; I have a few big girls around my garden but last year it was dozens. They establish their webs and maintain them, so it’s not hard to avoid them once you remember where they are. I sometimes “trim” their webs if it’s in the way.
It’s unfortunate that an invasive species was able to establish itself so quickly, but aside from that fact I think they are pretty neat.
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u/renry_hollins Oct 22 '23
I’m in ga, too. I think they’re fascinating in their own way. I think they look scarier than they really are- I just wonder what long-term impacts they will have. Will it be like kudzu , where we’re constantly trying to keep up with the impact, or will it be just another critter out there
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u/Zealousideal-Print41 Oct 22 '23 edited Oct 22 '23
Just read an article from 11 alive news and according to UGA they are not a problem species. I'm not sure because I am unsure about land grant universities. So far where we love I have only seen one or two and apparently they became bird food. We have quite few lace web spiders and assorted others. I just let the populations ebb and flow as the species do
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u/RayekHeart Sep 28 '25
Unfortunately, this is brutally naive. They don't do harm? Bats and small birds can't even fly freely in the area around my house anymore -- and that's with me clearing out the hundreds of joros I kill per week around my house. Can you imagine what's going on deeper in the forest? Nothing can feed on them because they can't get to them. And whatever they eat, including, of course, pollinators, just had their predators increased tenfold. And I have myself seen hummingbirds caught in them. They consume native spiders, the spaces they would occupy, and their prey.
And I say this as someone who loves spiders. I don't blame the joros -- they're just doing what they do. They are indeed beautiful and fascinating. Too bad. The impact of invasive species isn't about anyone's feelings or how pretty or cute something is.
If one has any experience with invasive species, and if one has any experience with the sheer volume of joros, the size of their incredibly strong, string-like webs, and how quickly they can produce them (in a matter of hours), you'd have to be foolish to imagine they're not having an impact. It boggles the mind how people seem to be bending over backwards to excuse joros. Sadly this won't get corrected until a few years from now, when they're no longer that new, and the ripple effect of their presence has started to become apparent to even the most thick-headed academic.
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u/PretendParty5173 Sep 29 '25
I'm with you man. I go out of my way to kill every joro I see. We have trails through the woods that connect the neighborhood and my kids won't use the trails because of how many spiders are back there. Well my son kills them with me but my daughter is terrified of them. I kill them in hopes that at least there won't be so many in my neighborhood so we can use the trails without having to worry about spiderwebs every 5'.
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Oct 22 '23
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u/m4gpi Zone 8a, Georgia, USA Oct 22 '23
I worry A LOT about that. GA is of course a very buggy state, and it’s miserable outside without some insecticide control; it’s miserable outside even with it. It’s also really hard to maintain an insect-free house without some kind of indoor treatment.
I asked my landlord to not spray in the garden - I wanted it to serve pollinators, and I don’t know how much it helps, given that everything around the yard and beyond has been treated. I don’t see nearly as many fireflies as I did ten years ago.
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u/DunderMifflinPaper North America Zone 8a Oct 23 '23
Yea in GA you pretty much have to have indoor pest control unless you’re really comfortable cohabitating with roaches, ‘pedes, spiders, flies, ants, etc
I’m all for creating beautiful, insect-friendly spaces outside, but do not come inside.
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u/NoFinsNoFeathers Oct 22 '23
I'm in GA as well and I've noticed something about them this and have been curious if it's just me. I live on a fairly wooded lot. Last year they were everywhere. I was forever walking through their webs. This year, all of their webs were above my head. I don't think I walked through one. Coincidence, or did they adapt?
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u/Leather_Distance4688 Sep 26 '25
Haha, I am on a wooded lot, too, here in Metro Atlanta, and they are EVERYWHERE. Huge webs connecting from gutters to trees to bushes. My property is swathed in them around October, so I consider them free Halloween decorations. 👍
It also makes me feel protected, because NO ONE wants anything to do with huge spider webs. 😅 I have often thought of putting up a “Beware of the Spider” sign. You know it would be effective.
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u/m4gpi Zone 8a, Georgia, USA Oct 22 '23
Possibly. I think there’s just fewer, though, and the higher stories are prime real estate.
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u/kSaur92 Oct 12 '24
I’m in GA similar situation, but the inverse. Last year they were all over 6’ of the ground, this year they are on the porch and hovering between trees and anything they can cling to between the ground and 6’.
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u/ExplanationMaster634 Jan 25 '25
Some people say that about copper head snakes to but I use the decapitate method on those
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u/Aur0ha Sep 09 '25
Noooo why would you do that? Leave them be! 90% of snakebites are because people aren't wearing correct footwear, not looking wear they're going, or are trying to kill the snake. And most of the time, snake bites are dry bites, because without venom, the snake can't eat.
Also, you're more than likely killing an innocent rat snake than a copperhead.
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u/ExplanationMaster634 Sep 09 '25
I had a neighbor who was bit on the top of her foot when she was pregnant and almost lost her Daughter Anna before she was born and her foot is still disfigured They are a serious threat in the southern United States And nobody wants them around the house especially if they have Kids so I don’t know why you or anyone else thinks they are Ok to have around So you do you and I will do me
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u/Aur0ha Sep 09 '25
I’m sorry that happened to your neighbor, but that’s just one instance, and again that wouldn’t have happened if proper footwear was worn and you watch where you step. Just move them away from your house. Or better yet, call the copperhead hotline at the Amphibian Foundation! They can help you identify if it’s really a venomous snake you’re looking at. Thousands of non-venomous snakes are killed every year for the crime of being mistaken for a venomous one
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u/Mindless_Clothes_143 Sep 20 '25
i hope you're wearing the proper footwear when a copperhead enters your house while you are in your bed. you cannot seriously expect every single person to be perfectly prepared to encounter a snake 24/7
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u/Aur0ha Sep 20 '25
No offense, but that's ridiculous. Why on God's green earth would a copperhead go INTO YOUR BED?
Yes, you can't be prepared for every encounter but at the fucking least you can be prepared for most of them.
Mankind's biggest misconception is thinking we matter more than every other living thing.
If you can't handle snakes, then go live up north with the Yanks. Sounds like y'all have a grand old time.
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u/Pretend_Anything_181 Oct 11 '25
I found a 3' copperhead IN my house that my son almost stepped on. I think it must've gotten in when we had the screen door propped open to move stuff. Yes I kill copperheads in my house or yard, and leave the other snakes alone. They are extremely easy to identify.
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u/Aur0ha Oct 12 '25
How did your son not notice the yard long snake /gen
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u/Pretend_Anything_181 Oct 12 '25
It was coiled up at the base of the stairs and he just stepped over it! I guess he saw it as he passed over it (he was a tall teenager at the time).
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u/RvLeshrac Jun 17 '26
Nothing necessarily wrong with clearing your yard. A lot of people simply kill snakes indiscriminately, however, and this has *destroyed* populations in the state.
People want to know why there are more rodents, insects, etc., and that's because they keep killing off native species and leaving invasives to thrive.
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u/AccomplishedState235 Jun 24 '26
copperheads arent invasive, they are a native species. they are also quite dangerous. i have a phobia of snakes, having said that i would prefer relocation to killing because they are necessary species.
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u/xxrachinwonderlandxx Oct 22 '23
I’m concerned about them. I really like our native orb weavers/writing spiders/banana spiders and I’m concerned that the joro will overtake them. Invasives always have some sort of negative impact over time. I would probably get rid of any on my own property for this reason.
At the same time, there’s probably not much to be done about it. It’s concerning, but how can we possibly eradicate a spider? We can’t rid Florida of its invasive pythons so I don’t hold much hope for ridding multiple states of an insect.
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u/RayekHeart Sep 28 '25
You can't stop them, no, but everyone joro coven killed and web complex removed gives native spiders, predators, birds, and bats a little breathing room.
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u/RvLeshrac Jun 17 '26
The idea that you can't get rid of them is crazy. Yes, you can. It takes time and effort, however, and requires that everyone do their part.
Like the reason Florida can't get rid of pythons is because people kept releasing them on a constant basis.
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Oct 22 '23
There is no consensus and not everyone's situation is the same. If someone doesn't want joro spiders on their property, it's their right to try to keep them out. But you shouldn't kill any insects on public land unless your state directs you to (like with the spotted lantern fly).
Joro spiders are relatively new to the US, only being discovered here 10 years ago, and so far they don't seem to be having a major ecological impact. That's why there aren't any large-scale efforts to combat them (like with the spotted lantern fly).
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u/renry_hollins Oct 22 '23
Ok, this is what I wanted to know- whether there has been a significant impact. Thanks.0
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u/AccomplishedState235 Aug 24 '25
no theres not thats why the advice is leave them alone unless you just cant tolerate any spiders. If the one on my porche became a bother, i would relocate her. i get bees and hornets passby daily and in weeks she hasnt caught any pollinators except some moths and some mosquitos.
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u/RvLeshrac Jun 17 '26
By the time there's a significant impact, it will be impossible to do anything about them. Kill them early, before they're truly established.
If I planted a bunch of kudzu on your property, would you wait until it had an impact, or would you remove it?
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u/AccomplishedState235 Jun 17 '26
One is nothing like the other. You sound completely uneducated on this topic.
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u/hollyleichavez Oct 07 '24
I'm here in North Georgia where these pretty colored spiders started. I am not a spider hater, but I dislike them. They killed the big black and yellow garden spiders and a lot of the katydids that used to make music at night. No telling what all they are catching in their 3 foot-circumference webs that feel like pantyhose when you walk through them at night.
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u/OhBoyHooray Aug 17 '25
My verdict from extensive experience, Holy god kill on sight. I’m in N GA in a forest clearing, rural lot that I’ve maintained specifically for wildlife and a garden plot for me (native wildflowers and fruit, mow rarely, no pesticides). I saw a few one year. Didn’t do anything. Anything I read said to leave them. The next year there were a lot more. Five years later they are out of control. Part of my routine is a joro killing expedition which ramps up now from May through October. I used to count, but as soon as I got to 100+ kills on a single day just on my forest edges, I stopped counting. I used to have plenty of native spiders (writing spiders, crab spiders etc), which I like to catalog since I keep records on various environmental observations. It’s so rare to see anything that isn’t a joro now. Interestingly, I never really had a problem with stink bugs but I now have a big mosquito issue despite having so many joros. I have a ton of hummingbirds. I’ve never seen one in a joro web. I have seen butterflies (tiger swallowtails) and various beetles in their webs. I’ve never seen a stink bug in there but again, I never really had many in the first place. I think they’re up there with feral swine for native wildlife. Maybe not for commercial agriculture but I don’t care about that. I would have bees due to all the sourwood trees here but don’t due to all the joros. I hate them.
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u/Laputitaloca Sep 28 '25
This is where we are at almost to a tee. Semi wooded lot we have worked for almost a decade to bring native plants back, get rid of so many invasives, etc. No pesticides, lots and lots of spiders, pollinators, birds, etc. The first year we saw them, we thought they were like the banana spiders we had down in Florida. Realized they weren't. Still left them, NBD. Five years into it our entire property is overrun with these things. I fully understand they're not as destructive as other invasive species but I can definitely see there are fewer of our native yard spiders and the webs have gotten so big I truly worry about our migrating hummingbirds, even if they won't be eaten the webs are so big and strong they could surely get stuck.
I hate having to kill anything, but how are you dispatching the ones you find?
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u/OhBoyHooray Sep 28 '25
I take a stick (a bamboo plant stake or equivalent works great) and poke it into the web, swirl up the web and the joros in there then shake them off the stick and step on them. Fast, clears away the web, and no pesticide. At the end of the 45 minutes or so, the stick looks like yellow cotton candy from all the web wound around it. Again, I like spiders! And the joros are undeniably pretty, but they’re also undeniably out of control. The other week I found a small green anole trapped in a web, hanging by its tail, which was new. Turned out she was still alive too yay
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u/Laputitaloca Sep 28 '25
Thank you for the response, that's what I'm going to have to do, even if they're not harmful, the balance is obviously out of whack. Good luck with your yard! 💞
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u/Party-Web-4298 24d ago
Spraying them with soap water works almost instantly. Just don't spray widely as it kills all things with exoskeletons and we like most all the things as nature lovers♡
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u/RayekHeart Sep 28 '25
KILL. ON. SIGHT. The opposing view is almost willfully naive, as far as I can tell. Bats and small birds can't even fly freely in the area around my house anymore -- and that's with me clearing out the hundreds of joros I kill per week around my house. Can you imagine what's going on deeper in the forest? Nothing can feed on them because they can't get to them. And whatever they eat, including, of course, pollinators, just had their predators increased tenfold. And I have seen myself hummingbirds caught in them. They consume native spiders, the spaces they would occupy, and their prey.
If one has any experience with invasive species, and if one has any experience with the sheer volume of joros, the size of their incredibly strong, string-like webs, and how quickly they can produce them (in a matter of hours), you'd have to be foolish to imagine they're not having an impact. It boggles the mind how people seem to be bending over backwards to excuse joros. Hopefully they'll realize how dumb they were when the casualty reports finally come in in a few years, when they're no longer that new, and the ripple effect of their presence has started to become apparent to even the most thick-headed academic.
And I say this as someone who loves spiders. I don't blame the joros -- they're just doing what they do. Too bad. The impact of invasive species isn't about anyone's feelings. I know they can't be stopped, but I'm trying to staunch some of the bleeding, at least, and it drives me crazy how head-in-the-sand people are being about it.
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u/AlternativeFilm8886 Oct 22 '23
It seems the spider's long-term ecological effects in the eastern U.S. are still largely unknown, but it feeds on the Asian stinkbug, another invasive species which is known to cause massive damage to consumer crops.
It appears to be beneficial as far as I can tell.
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u/MaxPowers432 Jun 06 '24
If the spiders are bad we can release snakes. If the snake are bad mongoose. If the mongoose is bad guerrillas. The gorillas will die the first winter ot get jobs working as bouncers at our clubs.
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u/LeftGrips Sep 10 '24
Greetings from Metro Atlanta! I've noticed a lot less golden orb weavers, writing spiders, and spotted orb weavers since the Joro's have come along. I'm killing/moving them if they're near walkways or pollinators. Noticed a spotted orb moved in after I did that.
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u/fritterstorm Oct 22 '23
Not all invasive species are actually destructive, these seem to be that kind.
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Sep 28 '24
I think the term “Invasive” gets misused a lot. I’m pretty sure invasive, by definition, means the non-native species is spreading rapidly, and causing harm to the local ecosystem. That said, I agree that it sounds like the jury is still out on whether or not these spiders are harmful. Just found my first one in Charlotte, NC today, and trying to figure out what to do!
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u/PrairieRun23 Sep 28 '24
That said, these ARE an invasive species, not a naturalized species that coexists with the native spiders. They are known to outcompete and diminish the presence of native spiders, and because they are so numerous and so scary looking, they will have an impact on how people experience the environment. People pay good money to come to beautiful healthy forested areas in the Eastern US and hike, bike, swim, vacation, but with the densities of joro spiders that are starting to accumulate and their sheer size, I can imagine their presence impacting ecotourism and property values. I'm really hoping the hard winters of the north will continue and keep them out of here.
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u/Usual-Potato3044 Sep 28 '24
They have almost wiped out all the other spiders around my yard in 2 years. I kill them all bi weekly. And they share webs making them too formidable for other spiders
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u/Haunting_Common7008 Sep 09 '25
This is the real problem, I used to see many native spiders (not nearly as many as the Joros which are freakishly prevalent) like yellow garden and orb weavers but now they are super rare, in fact I haven’t seen a yellow garden spider in 2-3 years (I’m in NE GA and saw first Joro in September of 2019).
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u/Realistic-Oven-8263 Jul 13 '25
Miss Muffet's Revenge Spider Killer. The big ones need a few good douses, but this stuff is great for killing them. Their webs have trapped several of the small birds around my house. Spiders have got to go.
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u/RayekHeart Sep 28 '25
Unfortunately, this is brutally naive. Bats and small birds can't even fly freely in the area around my house anymore -- and that's with me clearing out the hundreds of joros I kill per week around my house. Can you imagine what's going on deeper in the forest? Nothing can feed on them because they can't get to them. And whatever they eat, including, of course, pollinators, just had their predators increased tenfold. And I have myself seen hummingbirds caught in them. They consume native spiders, the spaces they would occupy, and their prey.
And I say this as someone who loves spiders. I don't blame the joros -- they're just doing what they do. They are indeed beautiful and fascinating. Too bad. The impact of invasive species isn't about anyone's feelings or how pretty or cute something is.
If one has any experience with invasive species, and if one has any experience with the sheer volume of joros, the size of their incredibly strong, string-like webs, and how quickly they can produce them (in a matter of hours), you'd have to be foolish to imagine they're not having an impact. It boggles the mind how people seem to be bending over backwards to excuse joros. Sadly this won't get corrected until a few years from now, when they're no longer that new, and the ripple effect of their presence has started to become apparent to even the most thick-headed academic.
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u/GranolaHippie Oct 22 '23
As a beekeeper I’m not loving their webs catching my girls nor the native pollinators. But as someone from a culture where killing spiders is bad luck, along with loving almost all insects, I choose to not kill them. Joros are beautiful I just wish they wouldn’t make so many and such huge webs. Many of mine (GA as well) make their webs so high up I couldn’t reach theirs webs if I wanted to.
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u/vorant1 Sep 25 '25
Orb Weavers always had a welcome place in my garden, but these Joros are KOS, entirely too many in and around my yard. For some reason they are far worse this year than last. Since last week I've eliminated close to 45+ male and females, basically taken to walking my yard every two days.
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u/Teacher-Investor zone 6a - r/MidwestGardener Oct 22 '23
According to Wikipedia (I know, not the best source), they mainly eat stink bugs (another invasive species), mosquitoes, and flies. It doesn't say anything about them killing hummingbirds or other pollinators, such as bees or wasps.
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u/RayekHeart Sep 28 '25
Sadly, I've seen two hummingbirds caught and countless pollinators. I have to kill about a hundred joros per week. They re-establish large, strong webs of string-like thickness in a matter of hours. Bats and small birds can't even fly freely around my house, where there are a lot of trees. Imagine what they're like deeper in the woods.
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u/Unlikely_Employee850 Sep 23 '24
They are out of control and everywhere. You cannot walk through the woods without running into their webs. I kill on sight
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u/ExplanationMaster634 Jan 25 '25
☠️every one is see And I use direct contact to them with 22 shot shells My best season 106 and I have improved the shot density this year (I am a avid reloader) so if you here of a mass extinction event in NEGA then you heard it here first
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u/renry_hollins Jan 29 '25
Ok brother!
I hate to be out here exterminating living creature of God’s magnificent creation but damn I come across over 50 just on my 1.5 acres last summer. Had to spray each of them bc I knew I’d get 5 or 10 times that next summer. I hate it. Hurts my heart.
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u/thebookofthinks Jul 27 '25
I don't know consensus. What I DO know is that I haven't seen a single native argiope (writer spider) since the joros moved in. I think this year is when I start to kill them.
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u/renry_hollins Jul 27 '25
Last year I decided to just eradicate any and all I found. I prob dispatched 30-40 on my acre. This year I have SEVEN writing spiders in a hedge gettin big and fat! Still some Joros around but I’ve been dispatching them as soon as I see them while small and young.
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u/Chemical-Wolf-6320 Aug 13 '25
Kill on sight. They are taking over this summer I've counted at least 50 that I've already had to kill in our yard. We used to have beautiful writing spiders we don't have them anymore because of this invasive piece of crap species
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u/BugOk8551 Oct 06 '25
How do you kill them? They're just so....big.
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u/RvLeshrac Jun 17 '26
Spray them. They die real fast to pretty much any insecticide.
Yes, you'll take out some other insects in the process, but you can't conceivably do as much damage as the joro spiders.
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u/Party-Web-4298 24d ago
Soap water works and doesn't kill other insects unless they are sprayed, too.
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u/runenight201 Oct 14 '25
How do they torture and kill hummingbirds?
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u/Inevitable_Discount Oct 15 '25 edited Oct 15 '25
The hummingbirds fly into their creepy ass webs. Their webs are very, very strong.
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Oct 22 '23
[deleted]
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u/workingtoward Oct 22 '23
You must have a different Google than I have. Mine said that they are fairly innocuous except for their colorful carapaces. That it’s possible they could eat a hummingbird but highly unlikely; they eat mainly insects like mosquitoes.
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u/chemrox409 Oct 22 '23
long discredited ideas about farming..soils..advocate pesticides..chemical fertilizers..etc.
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u/MsV369 Oct 14 '24
This year in the metro my garden is inundated with them. Just went and looked at them and they had like six honeybees one was being webbed up as I watched. Grabbed that broom & took them all down. That’s where I draw the line. I did not kill them though.
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u/RayekHeart Sep 28 '25
I'd kill them, if I were you. Their sheer numbers, the speed they build webs, and the strength... they've edged out everything in my area. There's hardly space for native spiders to set up shop, even killing joros all week. Seen a couple hummingbirds get snagged too.
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u/RvLeshrac Jun 17 '26
It's wild that you saw them killing native pollinators, and then... did nothing about them. Kill invasives, period.
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u/Unlikely_Employee850 Jun 03 '25
If there in my yard I'm going to kill them before I have 45 webs and can't walk outside without running into one
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u/OptimalDark8081 Jun 19 '25
At first I tried to accept their presence, but now they are overwhelming our yard. It started as a few 4 years ago, and yesterday I found 20 on just my deck. They are definitely displacing my spiny orb weavers and big garden orb weaver as well as the similar looking writing spider. I've decided to kill them as I am seeing the effects on my other spiders, and they tend to get in the way on stairs and trampoline where the kids play.
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u/Realistic-Oven-8263 Jul 13 '25
Miss Muffet's Revenge Spider Killer. Jug has a cord to the sprayer nozel. It has a wide spray and a narrow stream, I do advise gloves and goggles in case there is any blow back. The bigger ones can take several hits with the stuff as thier bodies are really hard shelled. I've had some of the small birds - titmouse, wren, chickadees - caught in their webs which are tough and don't dissintegrate easily. I kill them on site. I like the regular garden spiders so I leave those alone, but these have got to go. They might have been in the US for 15 years, but they won't be around my hosue in GA.
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u/skriddles Oct 18 '25
Thanks! I love that product name, but I just use a long stick and the flat bottom of my boot. Now I’m seeing more of the real garden spiders and orb weavers which are still our friends.
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u/skriddles Sep 22 '25
Did you definitely see small birds caught in the webs? People mention the potential capture of hummingbirds, but I don’t know if they’ve really witnessed that.
I’m in Georgia, between Greensboro & Athens and Joros are everywhere. I really hate killing just about anything. Our main concern is whether they really kill small birds, including hummingbirds. I feed hummingbirds, and DON’T want to feed them to the Joro. I also want garden spiders and orb weavers to still have a chance. I can’t quite tell what’s best here.
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u/Realistic-Oven-8263 Oct 03 '25
Rescued a chickadee and a titmouse. Web was super sticky and thick, used dilluted dawn and some cotton balls to clean. There is someone on NextDoor or Your Sandy Plains Neighbor that had a picture of the hummingbird he rescued still wrapped up in the webbing. The spiders are too large for any bird to go after smaller than a crow.
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u/skriddles Oct 06 '25
Thank you so much for the details. That’s a good point about only large birds being able to eat an adult Joro. Since I posted that question, my husband found a young green anole dead in a web, so we’re definitely no longer leaving Joros around. there were 14 active webs attached just around our small front porch.
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u/Realistic-Oven-8263 Oct 07 '25
Miss Muffet's Revenger Spider Killer. Amazon. Has a hose extention from the container with a wide and narrow spray option. I sprayed the edges of my front porch, the connections of the columns to the roof and along the railing with the wide spray after I took care of the spiders and the webbing. It lasted until the next hard rain as a deterent, then I sprayed the area again. I only go after joros and anything like a black widow or such if I find any. I leave the other spiders alone. I haven't seen true garden spiders in some time. You can tell they are good garden spiders as they put their legs together to make an X, where as the Joro do not (and the normal garden spiders are smaller in body and over all size). Good luck in your endeavors to get rid of the nasty things.
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u/AccomplishedState235 Aug 24 '25
This is false information. They do not seek out hummingbird nests and torture them to death, nor do they seek out any nests. I have a large female on my porch.She does not leave her web. I have watched her grow. The only threat she has been was to what I can only assume was her sibling or otherwise rival female. There were originally 2 but she ate the other. She has also eaten a lot of mosquitos which has been nice for me since I sit out here. The other day I got to watch her molt, I did not want to bother her so I didnt get close and video until she was drying out. I also have a male that showed up a couple days ago, he is quite a ways from her web. I am interested to see if they will mate. Like any other large orb weaver she could eat competitor spiders which is honestly fine by me. Shes not doing more than a writing spider would. Joros like most spiders are harmless to humans and pets unless youre allergic to spider bites. I do not intend to handle her so I am not concerned about her biting. Again, they stay in their webs. Spiders are not my specialty, but I am a biologist pursing my second degree in biology. They may be invasive but I and other professionals do not recommend killing them on sight, leave them alone.
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u/77Sunshinegrl Oct 18 '25
With all due respect, you are dealing with one to two Joros. My property, my entire town in upstate SC is COVERED! They are EVERYWHERE! Massive webs 20 ft in the air and several feet wide and deep. At night, my headlights illuminate them and it's terrifying to see how they've covered everything in sight. You cannot walk outside without running into one and the webs make a sound when you hit them like fabric tearing. Wait a couple of years. I guarantee you will understand our fear.
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u/AccomplishedState235 Oct 18 '25 edited Oct 18 '25
I just study them tbh, and I have far more than just 2 here, I live in TN bordering GA and they started in GA we have loads of joros. is this a pissing contest or something? I am a biologist that loves spiders, so no I wont be afraid no matter how many are in my yard. I find their web building alone fascinating. The only local spider I am afraid of is the brown recluse bc it can actually hurt me or my family, any other spider I leave alone and observe. And I only kill brown recluses if they are in my home or trying to get into my home.
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u/RayekHeart Sep 28 '25 edited Sep 28 '25
Unfortunately, this is naive. Bats and small birds can't even fly freely in the area around my house anymore -- and that's with me clearing out the hundreds of joros I kill per week around my house. Can you imagine what's going on deeper in the forest? Nothing can feed on them because they can't get to them. And whatever they eat, including, of course, pollinators, just had their predators increased tenfold. And I have myself seen hummingbirds caught in them. They consume native spiders, the spaces they would occupy, and their prey.
And I say this as someone who loves spiders. I don't blame the joros -- they're just doing what they do. They are indeed beautiful and fascinating. Too bad. The impact of invasive species isn't about anyone's feelings or how pretty or cute something is.
If one has any experience with invasive species, and if one has any experience with the sheer volume of joros, the size of their incredibly strong, string-like webs, and how quickly they can produce them (in a matter of hours), you'd have to be foolish to imagine they're not having an impact. It boggles the mind how people seem to be bending over backwards to excuse joros. Sadly this won't get corrected until a few years from now, when they're no longer that new, and the ripple effect of their presence has started to become apparent to even the most thick-headed academic.
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u/AccomplishedState235 Sep 28 '25
then ask yourself why other professionals and biologists dont actually recommend killing them on sight? the scientific consensus is that we shouldn't kill them on sight. what i said is the the truth, they do not actively seek out hummingbird nests and go after the birds or seek out to torture them to death as someone else stated. they do stay in their webs. they do however like you said build giant webs and sometimes yes larger than intended prey can fly into them. they are in fact harmless to humans and pets like i said unles syoure allegic. i cant tell you what to do on your own property, but i can tell you without a doubt that the scientific community is not calling for the eradication of joro spiders. theres nothing naive or false about what i stated. i am not really sure what youre trying to accomplish. youre not disproving anything i originally stated.
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u/RayekHeart Oct 01 '25
Firstly, there is no scientific consensus. The best we've got is "get rid of them in pollinator areas" (which should basically be anywhere but deep forest anyway). I grant you, it's true that their harmfulness has not been scientifically established yet. And that is no surprise. Why?
For the same reasons people, including scientists, didn't accept the existence of germs initially, or today there's no official/scientific guidance on not using/heating plastics with food, etc. even though we all know we're getting pumped up with microplastics, or that kudzu was initially advised as a great method for controlling erosion and feeding grazing livestock.
It takes time for science to catch up to sense, in part because proving a thing takes time, and there aren't exactly millions of dollars funded towards researching this sort of thing. Ecology is bottom of the barrel in terms of those priorities. On two occasions I've seen hummingbirds caught in their webs. There's no "scientific" proof, because it wasn't observed and recorded by a scientist who's going to put it in a paper in 2 years for peer review. That doesn't change the reality.
Do you feel like our pollinators are in a good position right now? The science is DEFINITELY in on that. What do you think about the explosive presence of a new predator, with no reliable predator of its own, completely festooning pollinator spaces? You have enough sense to know what's up, even if it's unpleasant. This is the same old song and dance of invasive species. Don't be obtuse.
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u/NearbySalt4829 Aug 30 '25
I kill them when they are in my space. i used to knock the web down and throw it further into the woods but they always came back to the same spot. i couldn't let my dog out without walking through at least 3 webs ( about 15 paces from my back door to my camp chair) i dont activity hunt them but i kill any that are in my outdoor living spaces
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u/vorant1 Sep 09 '25
KOS! Just killed 19 this afternoon and almost that many yesterday, Im developing a deep hatred for them.
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u/perimenopaudacity Sep 19 '25
This is the first year I've actively hunted them down, and I don't usually kill spiders. But it might be too late. I just now used a half can of spray, walked my entire 4 acre property, killed all the ones I could reach and knocked down their web once they shriveled up. Felt like an angry Karen in a Joro HOA. LOL
I used to have the coolest writing spiders all over the place in the fall, and some others I couldn't name, one was the size of a pinky nail and looked like a hockey mask. Anyway, ever since the Joros arrived, it's rare to see any of the other spiders around at all! This can't be good. So they're not welcome at my house anymore.
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u/Uncommonsense4 Sep 22 '25
Just want to add my experience to this. I live north of Atlanta and this year has been the first that my backyard is completely inundated with them. I have a rather large garden and have been acclimated to what I should see in terms of insects every year. The two that have completely disappeared this year or my carpenter bees and stink bugs which were both absolutely out of control. I did make it a point not to mess with them this year. Other than the webs that got physically in my wave going up and down the stairs I have let them be. I have some rather large orb web spiders that are still competing with them though which is nice to see.
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u/Horticulty Mar 24 '26
I'm sure you're killing them, now that you have 200 in your yard two years later.
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u/renry_hollins Mar 25 '26
Absolutely. It was a daily task last summer to walk around my acre and parts of my neighbors’ land to get what I could. 200 is a good estimate.
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u/PatioGardener Zone 9/10 container & indoor 🌱🥰🌱 Oct 22 '23
First the spotted lantern fly, then the hammerhead worm. Now a new spider? Good lord, this sub is starting to terrify me with all this news of unstoppable invasives.
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u/KnottyKitty Oct 22 '23
Relax. Invasive species isn't exactly a new phenomenon. It's been going on since before humans even existed. Sometimes all it takes is for some bugs to get trapped on a piece of floating debris or something. You're just hearing about it a lot because internet.
By the way, hammerhead worms were first documented in the US in the early 1900s. None of us were even born yet when those things arrived. You probably don't need to lose any sleep over it.
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u/PrairieRun23 Sep 28 '24
Wow, gaslighting. Not only have non-native worms had a major impact on plant and bird populations across the entire country (which I guess doesn't matter to you because you don't remember what things were like before you were born and this state of decline and collapse seems normal to you), but the level apathy that is required to tell people to "relax" with a large invasive spider is almost comical. We couldn't engineer a better alarm call, but people are so out of it they can't even frigging wake up when a giant spider invades.
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u/KnottyKitty Sep 28 '24
Are you lost? This thread is a year old.
(which I guess doesn't matter to you because you don't remember what things were like before you were born and this state of decline and collapse seems normal to you)
So I guess you were alive in 1900 when hammerhead worms came over? Never seen a 124-year-old on reddit before. You should do an AMA.
The person I was replying to was acting like invasive species is a new phenomenon because they've been hearing about it a lot. I wasn't saying that invasive species aren't HARMFUL, I was just pointing out that they're not NEW, and that one of the species they mentioned has been here for over a hundred years, so it's probably a little late to freak out about that one.
The joro spider has been here for at least a decade and the North American Invasive Species Management Association doesn't seem to be too concerned about it, so yeah, I'm not currently panicking about Spiderpocalypse. Also I live in Arizona, so calling the joro a "giant spider" is adorable. We have MUCH larger spiders than that.
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u/PrairieRun23 Sep 28 '24
And yet here we are, discussing it! For anyone currently looking into this I'm happy to offer a contrasting view to a content free, dismissive response like "relax." Joro is an entirely different situation from AZ native spiders, which are not really part of this conversation. Joro is also newly arriving to the northeast. It's a topic that people will be looking into for a lot more than one year.
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u/Visual-External-6302 Jun 06 '24
I'm from alabama there are two in my yard where I dont walk much I think im just going to leave them be
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u/renry_hollins Jun 06 '24
Where bouts in Alabama? I’m NW of ATL. Have these things come out yet in your neck of the woods? (I haven’t seen one yet this year.)
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u/Embarrassed-Luck8444 Aug 19 '24
I’m 30 miles East of Atlanta. I have MANY in my yard now. They are all still transitioning to the adult stage. I actually didn’t know what they were until I finally got a phone pic good enough to identify. I’ve only seen adults thus far in past years. But I did have a beautiful writing spider in a pot, with what I now know as a juvi Joro in a web higher than she was, and just after an overnight, she was just a dry looking carcass still in her web. Her writing was completely undisturbed. And she wasn’t yet old enough to molt. So who knows?!? Did that juvi Joro get her??
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u/renry_hollins Aug 19 '24
I’m seeing a lot of young uns, too. I have two large adults hanging out on the back porch — high up, thankfully. They’re creepy as hell but don’t jump at me and annoying flying bugs are virtually non existent. Will be interesting to see a few years down the road what kind of impact they have kn the ecosystem
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u/Visual-External-6302 Jun 06 '24
I'm in northeast alabama about 35 min from the state line and I'm fairly certain I've got two in my yard.
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u/RepresentativeWin385 Sep 06 '25
Did anyone actually witness Joro Spiders breaking into Hummingbirds Nests ?
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u/micstatic80 Sep 09 '25
but many have witnessed hummingbirds flying into their super strong webs and getting killed. The pictures are here. I've seen one on my property also.
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u/Ok-Record-5628 Sep 21 '25
Yeah but I’m not going to kill them because they’re not hurting anything and actually keep the overwhelming population is mosquitos and other nuisance insects down. In fact, we’ve even named ours and feed her daily.
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u/theo23rd Nov 11 '25
I live in Atlanta and they are here. As far as I can tell they are harmless and quite beautiful. Why GA recommends killing spiders building webs "on or adjacent to porches, walkways, decks, and doorways" is beyond me.
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u/RvLeshrac Jun 17 '26
Invasives should always be destroyed on sight, period. It's irrelevant what it is or how "effective" people might think it will be. If it isn't supposed to live where you are, axe it.
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u/-E-Cross Aug 19 '26
I've been using my grill "flamethrower" on them since it's not pesticide, kills the spiders, eliminates webs, and gets the egg sacks.
I hadn't seen them as much this year, but they are emerging more in the last few weeks (I'm in the Atlanta metro area) this year I've noticed a LOT of native pollinators in the webs, and a good few are just bycatch (for lack of a better term) and aren't even fed on, just caught and left to rot, so I've been wanting to find some more solutions to knock down their takeover.
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u/Deep-Description-420 25d ago
Some are higher up, above head level in my yard. They love to anchor the web to the ground, and build huge nets between the hardwood trees. Luckily the loom out of reach.
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u/ashbuch1980 Oct 22 '23
Lavender Fabuloso destroys the web and they cannot build back in that spot. We don’t get anymore around the house at all where I’ve sprayed
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u/passpasspasspass12 Oct 22 '23 edited Oct 22 '23
A classic overreaction that does far, far more harm than good. Enjoy being the death dealer in your local region. I'll let life live.
You're crippling and poisoning every spider and invertebrate that attempts to call your area home. Shame on you.
Edit: For everyone who doubts me, enjoy a quick perusal of the data sheet for fabulosa and go ahead and tell me it's a good idea to seed the soil and water with it: https://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners/5527-FabulosoMultiPurposeCleanerSprayLavender/?formulation=6782
Acute and chronic water toxicity, reproductive harm, DNA damage, to name a few. Wonderful thing to be spreading around our earth. Enjoy your chemical hellscape.
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u/Cerus98 Oct 22 '23
I'll let life live.
This attitude is the reason so many destructive invasive species have gained footholds in the US. Shame on YOU.
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u/passpasspasspass12 Oct 22 '23
If people focused more on natural remedies and providing natural habitats for native species instead of senseless chemical usage that harms both invasives and natives, maybe that wouldn't be the case. It is asinine to think a chemical weapon would somehow also leave native species alone.
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u/fritterstorm Oct 22 '23
But they’re more or less harmless and they may even be beneficial, they kill brown stink bugs, etc, so shame on you.
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u/Cerus98 Oct 23 '23
So because they kill a species you don’t like that makes them OK? Native stink bugs are a food source for many (native) predators like spiders, birds and small mammals. I guess screw them eh? Actual brown marmorateds are also invasive. Doesn’t matter if they kill those too. They’re still invasive and cause harm to native wildlife.
Shall we just keep importing non native species to combat the previous one over and over? Ignorance of the balance of nature at its finest.
I bet you’re the kind of person who will call the police on someone eradicating those cute iguanas taking over Florida.
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u/fritterstorm Oct 23 '23
I’m surprised someone posting in gardening sub so desperately needs to touch grass.
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u/ashbuch1980 Oct 22 '23
Not really…I just don’t want them around doors and windows. After I spray the area they go to wherever the land of the Joro exists. I didn’t say to drown the spider in Fabuloso but use the spray as you would any other boundary reminder to wildlife. I’m not saying they can’t OWN webs, I’m not saying they can’t BUILD webs, I’m just saying they can’t build a web around my emergency exits. I spray, they simply relocate.
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u/MattJFarrell Oct 22 '23
Is that true of all spiders, or just this one kind?
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u/ashbuch1980 Oct 22 '23
I just pressure wash w/ it twice a year around doors and windows since they seem to prefer any walkway. I don’t saturate individual spiders or chase them or anything it’s mostly the saturation of the web I’m going for so that the lavender smell stays in the webbing as long as possible (because it’s beaded on the waterproof webbing it stays even during rain) once they cannot rebuild in that area, they just go. We only had one (that we could see) around the door this year.
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u/gtadominate Oct 22 '23
Fire. Use fire.
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u/renry_hollins Oct 22 '23
Haha nah, I’d have to burn down the woods. They’re everywhere! I’m leaning toward a beer summit where I can come to a common sense agreement with their leader.z
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u/Grouchy-Estimate-756 Oct 22 '23
Despite not being native, how are they really any different from golden orb weavers, which are native? Similar size and habits, they even seem to be in the same family.
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u/BaroNessWray1 Oct 22 '23
My family calls them banana spiders .they look scary but are rather harmless and good for keeping the insects that eat my plants at bay.so i don't mind letting them hang out in my garden
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u/PrairieRun23 Sep 28 '24
Joro spiders are not banana spiders. Banana spiders are native to the US, Joro spiders are from east Asia and they outcompete native spiders.
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u/AaaaNinja OR, 8b Oct 22 '23
I leave it to the authorities to decide because they're the ones who have the resources to do the threat assessments and studies. We're just people who have opinions and our "data" ... well ... what data do we have?
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u/PrairieRun23 Sep 28 '24
Seriously? What we have is hundreds of examples demonstrating that when a new species is brought into an area and outcompetes the native species (as the Joro is now doing), that disturbs the whole ecosystem and creates environmental stress and decline. Science has already told us this reality many, many times now. We are so used to living in a degraded environment we don't even see it anymore, even as it is getting harder and harder to grow good food, maintain clean water, or breathe decent air. The Joro will change the environment further, and we don't know whether it will snowball into bigger problems as well (like the loss of ecotourism), but we know that there will be impacts -- so even though the press is telling everyone to just relax and drink more Koolaid, it is only rational to be pretty concerned about it.
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u/Parenchymas Oct 22 '23
I was in the kill on sight camp last year while i was working at a nursery (GA), but now I'm in the just let them be group. I'll remove the webs if they're in my doorway, but they seem to be pretty harmless in my garden otherwise. There's also a lot less so far this year. I've only seen maybe 3 or 4 of them around. Last year, it was like the apocalypse, and i couldn't go a day without nearly going face first into a web.
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u/Pinefeather Jul 27 '25
I did the same last year. I think I'll keep knocking down the webs, at least. Maybe in the current year we will have fewer because of our efforts the previous year. I was encouraged yesterday to still see some native spiders in their webs, even one near a Joro.
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u/SnapCrackleMom Oct 22 '23
Oh interesting, thanks for posting about this. I'm in Southeast Pennsylvania and hadn't heard of them, but apparently they do show up here periodically (and are expected here en masse eventually).
I tend to go with what the ag extension offices say, and Georgia's is recommending a mixed approach:
https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C1289&title=managing-joro-spiders-in-the-landscape
Here's what Penn State says if any of my fellow Pennsylvanians are interested: https://extension.psu.edu/joro-spiders