5 ms·

I was one of the first people to report them spreading back almost 4(edit) years ago. One day I was taking in groceries and I noticed a golden glimmer by my fro

by 97s 5y ago

I was one of the first people to report them spreading back almost 4(edit) years ago. One day I was taking in groceries and I noticed a golden glimmer by my front door between 3 trees I have. I took a closer look and I realized it was a massive 6-10 foot web, that had 3-4 layers of web spread between the trees. Right smack in the center of it was this beautiful 3 inch spider that was amazing looking. Right below her was this tiny male spider that was barely 1/8 her size. I immediately looked her up and spotted an article about how they came to be and to report their sightings. I emailed the UGA professor about this and he was surprised to see they had already came this far in. Almost 4(edit) years later, when you go outside on a misty morning during the summer, you look up into the trees as you drive home and it is literally nothing but glimmering Joro spider webs. Thousands of them. Most of them now appear in my back yard as I removed those trees, but it was crazy to see peoples faces when they walked to my front door and realized what they were walking past and freaked out at a 3 inch spider about 5 foot away from them. edit: when I looked up the UGA professor name I realized I emailed it back in September 2018! Crazy.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
echelon 5y ago
Unless there are other giant yellow spiders with black legs and big webs native to Georgia, I'm almost certain I spotted these when jogging by my neighbor's house in North Georgia around 2007. It was terrifying looking, and it stuck with me. It had to be around that time, because I moved shortly thereafter. Anecdotal, but when I saw this headline I immediately thought back upon it.
- mkr-hn 5y ago
  Those are the local variety. The new ones are much, much bigger.
- munificent 5y ago
  Probably just a banana spider: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichonephila_clavipes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichonephila_clavipes Here's one from 2006 in Central Florida: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobisbob/299200141/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobisbob/299200141/in/datepost...
  - Teknoman117 5y ago
    I remember seeing a large number of "yellow garden spiders" around Alabama during the 2007 timeframe. I guess they only get up to about an inch long, I remember that my teenage self thought they were much larger...
  - echelon 5y ago
    That looks spot on! Thanks for clarifying.
- nik41tkins 5y ago
  Not in GA but close enough. My guess is you saw https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aurantia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aurantia
- 97s 5y ago
  There are some other yellow spiders, but nothing really compares to this one. They don't make traditional webs. They make massive ugly janky looking webs from all different directions that span across a lot of different branches. I don't think they came to be until about 3 years ago. The UGA professor says that they believe they came from a freight truck traveling up I85 as they hatched off.
  - pvaldes 5y ago
    The most interesting part is that they made a very strong silk that is golden and can even be collected and knitted. Ecologically is a problem. One more.
oyebenny 5y ago
Who was the professor if I may ask? He may have been mine! Etymology is a very niche community at UGA!
- 97s 5y ago
  Edward Hoebeke
- p3rls 5y ago
  etymology from the greek ἔτυμος for "true" entomology from the greek ἔντομον for "insect", the tom actually is the same tom in atom.
  - perihelions 5y ago
    This checks out: - "The Greek word entomon, meaning “notched,” refers to the segmented body plan of the insect." https://www.britannica.com/science/entomology https://www.britannica.com/science/entomology - "Etymology : From ἐν- (en-, “in”) +‎ τόμος (tómos, “slice”)." https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ἔντομος#Ancient_Greek https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ἔντομος#Ancient_Greek
    - lmohseni 5y ago
      Or in xkcd form: https://xkcd.com/1012/ https://xkcd.com/1012/
m_mueller 5y ago
I remember how fascinated I was by them when I first visited Japan. Public parks there have been full of them for a long time, it seems like they like a lot the way human gardening is arranging trees, i.e. their wide nets work perfectly there. I don‘t see the problem either - if you want less mosquitoes and flies here you have a pretty good solution.
- 97s 5y ago
  This is how I feel. I love that they get the pest bugs. I don't mind them at all. I learn where their webs are by running into them one time and then going around them the next times.

by 97s 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

echelon 5y ago

Unless there are other giant yellow spiders with black legs and big webs native to Georgia, I'm almost certain I spotted these when jogging by my neighbor's house in North Georgia around 2007. It was terrifying looking, and it stuck with me. It had to be around that time, because I moved shortly thereafter. Anecdotal, but when I saw this headline I immediately thought back upon it.

mkr-hn 5y ago
Those are the local variety. The new ones are much, much bigger.
munificent 5y ago
Probably just a banana spider: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichonephila_clavipes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichonephila_clavipes Here's one from 2006 in Central Florida: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobisbob/299200141/in/dateposted-public/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/bobisbob/299200141/in/datepost...
- Teknoman117 5y ago
  I remember seeing a large number of "yellow garden spiders" around Alabama during the 2007 timeframe. I guess they only get up to about an inch long, I remember that my teenage self thought they were much larger...
- echelon 5y ago
  That looks spot on! Thanks for clarifying.
nik41tkins 5y ago
Not in GA but close enough. My guess is you saw https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aurantia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argiope_aurantia
97s 5y ago
There are some other yellow spiders, but nothing really compares to this one. They don't make traditional webs. They make massive ugly janky looking webs from all different directions that span across a lot of different branches. I don't think they came to be until about 3 years ago. The UGA professor says that they believe they came from a freight truck traveling up I85 as they hatched off.
- pvaldes 5y ago
  The most interesting part is that they made a very strong silk that is golden and can even be collected and knitted. Ecologically is a problem. One more.

oyebenny 5y ago

Who was the professor if I may ask? He may have been mine! Etymology is a very niche community at UGA!

97s 5y ago
Edward Hoebeke
p3rls 5y ago
etymology from the greek ἔτυμος for "true" entomology from the greek ἔντομον for "insect", the tom actually is the same tom in atom.
- perihelions 5y ago
  This checks out: - "The Greek word entomon, meaning “notched,” refers to the segmented body plan of the insect." https://www.britannica.com/science/entomology https://www.britannica.com/science/entomology - "Etymology : From ἐν- (en-, “in”) +‎ τόμος (tómos, “slice”)." https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ἔντομος#Ancient_Greek https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ἔντομος#Ancient_Greek
  - lmohseni 5y ago
    Or in xkcd form: https://xkcd.com/1012/ https://xkcd.com/1012/

m_mueller 5y ago

I remember how fascinated I was by them when I first visited Japan. Public parks there have been full of them for a long time, it seems like they like a lot the way human gardening is arranging trees, i.e. their wide nets work perfectly there. I don‘t see the problem either - if you want less mosquitoes and flies here you have a pretty good solution.

97s 5y ago
This is how I feel. I love that they get the pest bugs. I don't mind them at all. I learn where their webs are by running into them one time and then going around them the next times.