Huge spiders to colonize US East Coast, but maybe it's a good thing

In a few short years, the Joro spider's golden webs -- which they tend to build at head height -- have become a common sight throughout the US state of Georgia, and new research suggests they will clamber up the Eastern Seaboard next

Big and scary-looking Joro spiders have spread from Asia to the southern United States and are now poised to colonize the country's cooler climes -- but they're nothing to fear and might end up actually helping local ecosystems.

That's according to scientists who have been studying the arachnid invaders since they first arrived in Georgia around 2013.

"The reason we got involved in this project was because they literally fell in our lap," Andy Davis, an ecologist at the University of Georgia, told AFP on Friday.

Davis set about studying the new resident, comparing it to the golden silk spider, which came to the southeastern United States some 160 years ago from the tropics.

The Joro spider's metabolic rate is about double that of its cousin, its heart beats 77 percent faster, and it can survive brief freezes. They also grow faster.

They're also adept at gliding -- spinning webs that act like parachutes and catch air currents -- allowing them to fly up to 100 miles (160 kilometers). 

There was even a report from faraway Oklahoma.

- Call for clemency -

Invasive species are often linked to destruction -- such as the spotted lanternfly, a native of Southeast Asia that came to the US state of Pennsylvania in 2014 and is known to decimate fruit trees and ornamental plants.

"The golden silk spider is everywhere in the southeast, and it's not causing any harm. It's been here so long, it's integrated itself into the ecosystem, and the Joro could follow the same trajectory," he said.

Another advantage: Joros also feed on insects that local spiders do not, such as the adult brown marmorated stink bug.

"I don't really think the Joros deserve to be squashed or killed like the spotted lanternfly -- they're really not out to get us and it's not their fault either that they're here. They were literally along for the ride," he said.

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