Reports say giant spiders might be dropping down from the sky on the east coast this spring.
It’s going to be raining eight-legged arachnids. It will specifically be spiders, and the species is called are Joro spiders. According to AXIOS Washington, D.C., the spiders intend to “colonize” the entire east coast by “ballooning” up and down starting in May.
For humans, don’t worry; researchers say their fangs are too small to penetrate human skin, and their venom is reportedly not dangerous. In addition, the spiders are tough enough to live through cold weather and heat. Their bodies are black with yellow, black, blue and red spots and stripes on them. AXIOS reports the spiders can grow to be three inches long.
The emergence of the Joro spiders in the U.S., which are native to Japan, started in 2013. They first landed in the southeast, hitting Georgia. They then started making their move around the country by using their webs as small parachutes to float around the states with help from the wind.
In a statement, Andy Davis, a research scientist at Georgia’s Odum School of Ecology, told USA Today that humans should be used to them. “People should try to learn to live with them,” said Davis. “If they’re literally in your way, I can see taking a web down and moving them to the side, but they’re just going to be back next year.”
