Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Joro spiders are coming to NY and NJ as soon as this summer
By
Nancy Solomon
Published Jun 1, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
LizMinkertJohnson via Getty Images
By
Nancy Solomon
Published Jun 1, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
An invasive spider species is making its way north to the New York metropolitan region, and even though it’s harmless, its size tends to scare people.
The Joro spider, which is native to East Asia, has proliferated throughout the southern United States and has even been spotted in Maryland. It’s expected to start showing up in New Jersey and New York this summer.
The spider has a body about 4 inches long and legs that span 6 to 8 inches — about the size of a human hand. Females are also very brightly colored; they have yellow bodies with gray or dark blue stripes, a red belly, and legs that are dark blue with yellow stripes. Males are brown.
“I'm sure it'll bother people just because a lot of people don't like spiders,” said Louis Sorkin, an arachnologist who is retired from the American Museum of Natural History, and now consults on arachnology and entomology. “They really don't pose a big threat. Of course they have venom, but it's not a dangerous venom.”
The Joro spider only bites when threatened, and its venom isn't dangerous to humans or pets.
In fact, the Joro spider can be beneficial to humans because it eats mosquitoes, yellowjackets, stink bugs and even spotted lanternflies, which it catches in its golden yellow webs. Joro spiders themselves are also a food source for birds and mammals.
It uses wind currents to travel, and one spider can travel up to 100 miles.
“The spiderlings do balloon, which is like a parachuting style of producing silk that goes out into a long strand, which is then picked up by the wind,” Sorkin said. So if the prevailing winds are moving north at this time of year, when spiderlings are the right size to travel in the wind, then they are likely to spread from the South to the New York metropolitan region.
But the spider’s size and rapid proliferation are eliciting strong reactions. “Beware – Wicked Venomous Flying Spiders Heading To Missouri,” warned one headline.
“It's a bigger spider than we're used to, but it has pretty colors,” Sorkin said.
Sorkin said he doesn’t expect the Joro spider to show up in such large numbers that it will cause problems.
Tagged
environment
new jersey
new york state
Nancy Solomon
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Being reigning champions is weird for Knicks fans. We could get used to this.
Seeing high hopes dashed had become so routine, it was part of our identity. This year feels different.
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Oct 17, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET
Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.
Some regulars at the East Village park want to preserve its not-so-fancy offerings.
By
Willow Higgins
News
Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.
Some regulars at the East Village park want to preserve its not-so-fancy offerings.
By
Willow Higgins
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
By
Rosemary Misdary
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .