Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff Lauren vogel bum here, an invasive species
Speaker 1: of spider is making itself comfortable in parts of the
Speaker 1: southern United States. But don't let the Joro spider give
Speaker 1: you the creepy Crawley's just yet. Between its golden webs
Speaker 1: and it's tarzan esque silk swinging tactics to track down
Speaker 1: a mate, this arachnet is a fascinating and as far
Speaker 1: as we know, harmless addition to the ecosystem, or unless
Speaker 1: you happen to be a stink bug. The Joro spider
Speaker 1: is native to East Asia, in Japan and South Korea.
Speaker 1: It's common names translate to things like entangling or binding
Speaker 1: bride and fortune teller spider, which reflect the beauty and
Speaker 1: intrigue of this orb weaver. The males are smaller and
Speaker 1: pretty drab, but the females feature yellow and bluish green
Speaker 1: bands across the body orangish bands on the spanning legs,
Speaker 1: and a bright red underbole. This spider can't actually tell
Speaker 1: your fortune, but she can weave a beautiful basket shaped
Speaker 1: web that reflects gold in the sunlight. Along with electronics
Speaker 1: and bananas, Exotic plants and critters like the Joro spider
Speaker 1: are known to hitchhike on America bound commodities, especially in
Speaker 1: shipping containers. Now, the Jora exists in twenty five counties
Speaker 1: in Georgia and parts of South Carolina. In some cases,
Speaker 1: homeowners have hundreds around their homes. They prefer to make
Speaker 1: their webs high in trees and have been found in forests,
Speaker 1: urban woods, porchlights, wooden decks, bushes, tall weeds, and even
Speaker 1: on the vinyl siding of homes. Their ability to adapt
Speaker 1: natural habitats and food sources in Georgia and South Carolina
Speaker 1: has allowed their numbers to swell. However, it's only a
Speaker 1: matter of time before predators catch up with the new resident.
Speaker 1: For the article, this episode is based on how Stuff
Speaker 1: Work spoke with Paul Gillibo, a professor of entomology at
Speaker 1: the University of Georgia. He said, I think the spiders
Speaker 1: have spread so quickly here because predators, parasites, and diseases
Speaker 1: have not caught up with them yet. If there is
Speaker 1: a new large food resource like the booming spider population,
Speaker 1: something will ultimately take advantage. So, in other words, it's
Speaker 1: just a matter of time before birds or parasitic wasps
Speaker 1: figure out there's a new meal in town. Jora spiders
Speaker 1: tend to build webs close to each other, which helps
Speaker 1: the mating process. Since males don't make their own webs,
Speaker 1: a function that's left to the females to mate, males
Speaker 1: must pursue females, albeit carefully. They may use a gossamer
Speaker 1: and float on a breeze from tree to tree until
Speaker 1: a female is within sight, or until they spot a
Speaker 1: less male occupied web. It's kind of cute to think
Speaker 1: of this spider as a little Tarzan swinging from tree
Speaker 1: to tree to find his Jane, but that's where the
Speaker 1: romanticism ends. If a male spider isn't careful, he may
Speaker 1: become dinner instead. Gilibo said. The male will make a
Speaker 1: little web and deposit sperm there, and then suck up
Speaker 1: the sperm and structures near the mouth. Then the male
Speaker 1: tries to find a receptive female. The males are almost
Speaker 1: always smaller, so it's tricky business to make your move
Speaker 1: without being eaten. Gilibo says he's seen males around his
Speaker 1: house wait until a female is busy eating an insect
Speaker 1: before he approaches, which may be safer. Though the joro
Speaker 1: spider was first spotted in Georgia, it's still too early
Speaker 1: to understand it's big picture impact on the environment. So far, however,
Speaker 1: they seem to be thriving on a diet of stink
Speaker 1: bugs and other flying insects, which is actually appreciated by
Speaker 1: farmers whose crops can suffer from stink bug infestations. As
Speaker 1: or weavers, they will naturally compete with other or weavers
Speaker 1: for prey, but since they often weave their webs higher
Speaker 1: than other spiders, they may be catching different kinds of prey.
Speaker 1: Jorro spy ers are venomous like all spiders, but they
Speaker 1: aren't dangerous to you or your pets, and will only
Speaker 1: bite if they're scared enough to do so. Gilibo said.
Speaker 1: Even if you walk into a joro web, it will
Speaker 1: try to escape rather than attack you. If you catch
Speaker 1: a joro in your hand, it may bite you out
Speaker 1: of fear. If I were caught by a giant, i'd
Speaker 1: probably bite. If you do get bitten, you may be
Speaker 1: a bit uncomfortable, but it's not as bad as a
Speaker 1: brown recluse or a black widow. So what should you
Speaker 1: do if you see one? You may be tempted to
Speaker 1: kill it, but instead try being more curious. Gilibo suggests.
Speaker 1: He said, have a look at it every couple of days.
Speaker 1: Show your children they're fascinating to watch a toss an
Speaker 1: insect into the web if you want to see them
Speaker 1: in action, and don't kill spiders or anything else for
Speaker 1: no good reason. We're all playing our role in the ecosystem.
Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article the invasive fortune
Speaker 1: teller Joro Spider is getting Cozy in the US Own
Speaker 1: House to works dot com, written by Alison Troutner. Brain
Speaker 1: Stuff is production of I Heart Radio and partnership with
Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang.
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