OK, so it’s not really as horrible as one might think. The Joro spider is native to eastern Asia, but they have been spreading in the eastern United States since at least 2014. They can (but usually don’t) grow to a size where the span of their legs is the breadth of a human hand, and their young disperse by “ballooning,” wherein a young spider lets out a long, long strand of fine silk, which catches the wind and carries the baby spider aloft.
This dispersal is now expected to take them into New York City.
It’s raining…giant spiders?!
Spiders that can float on the air and grow to the size of a human hand have been invading the US for more than a decade.
And now they could be touching down in New York — just in time for summer.
Trichonephila clavata – more commonly known as Joro spiders – are native to East Asia, and are known for spinning massive sticky webs.
They have…
