ATLANTA — Giant, venomous, flying spiders here in Georgia are now on the move.
Channel 2 Action News has reported on Joro spiders before, but now, scientists say they’re spreading beyond Georgia.
“The kids and my wife were very startled by them. They come screaming. I’m the guy who kills all the bugs around the house,” Delon Allen of Alpharetta said about the spiders.
Researchers with the University of Georgia believe they arrived here around 2013, all the way from Japan -- possibly in cargo that came through Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Scientists have predicted they’ll start to spread out of the state and apparently, now they have.
“If there is a female that’s about to lay eggs and she happens to be on a swing set, and that gets taken from South Carolina to New York to grandma’s house for some reason, then you might have a satellite population,” David Coyle with Clemson University said.
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But while the Joro spiders are spreading, scientists say they’re not going to be blanketing the nation any time soon.
“They might eventually get here but they are not going to show up this summer. And I truly cannot figure out where the sudden decision that they are going to be here this summer comes from,” said Dr. Linda S. Raynor with Cornell University.
And that is perfectly fine with a lot of people.
“I’ll Probably cry. Like straight up. Just… I would run,” said Marcella Grubka, who lives in Syracuse, New York.
There is some good news, though!
The Joro spiders don’t actually fly-- they don’t have wings. Their webs are carried on the breeze.
And scientists say unless you stick your finger right in front of their fangs, they’re unlikely to bite you.
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