网红头条

KENNESAW, Ga. | Oct 22, 2026

On a recent visit to the , KSU faculty member Andy Davis gave his students a firsthand look at a perceived menace.

鈥淚t was a Joro spider, and I brought it around to show all the students,鈥� said Davis, a limited-term assistant professor of in KSU鈥檚 . 鈥淭hey took pictures, and everybody was freaking out. But Joro spiders are shy enough that you can do that, and they won't bite you.鈥�

A nationally renowned expert and myth-buster on Joro spiders, Davis seeks to expand knowledge on the invasive arachnids. Joro spiders came to the U.S. via East Asia in the mid-2010s, possibly in egg sacs attached to shipping containers, and their population has only increased since then.

The spiders can grow to the size of a human palm. Belonging to a genus that makes some of the strongest silk among all spiders, the Joros鈥� ubiquitous, three-dimensional webs line trees, lampposts and other vertical structures across several states.

Like all spiders, Joros eat insects, yet they remain a source of fear for many people. Davis takes an agnostic approach to debunking myths about the species, including claims that they are aggressive or dangerously venomous, while examining whether they are ultimately harmful, beneficial, or largely neutral within the ecosystem.

鈥淚n fact, there is some new evidence coming out showing that some of our native birds will eat them,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淲e don't really know which species of birds, but we could see that happen more in the future, where some more of our native fauna will learn that Joro spiders are a tasty little snack.鈥�

Davis joined KSU鈥檚 faculty after spending more than two decades at the University of Georgia. It was there, on his property near Athens, that he first noticed the large, brightly colored Joro spiders. After three decades studying monarch butterflies, shifting his focus came naturally. As any curious scientist would, Davis set out to investigate every aspect of the species: Why do they build webs in some places but not others? Are they suited for life on this new continent? And how are they different from our native spiders?

鈥淭he irony is that I study the Joro spiders, and it gets a lot of attention because everybody hates them,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I also study monarch butterflies, which everybody loves. Both species generate a lot of attention.鈥�

Davis鈥� research mostly focuses on the physiology of Joro spiders, and asking questions about how they can live in human-dominated environments. Meanwhile, he said people can learn a lot just from observing the spiders in their relatively natural habitats over the late-summer and early fall months.

鈥淚f you have one in your backyard, it's going to be there for about four months in that same place, growing, eating, doing its thing, not bothering you if you don't bother it 鈥� a real educational opportunity,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of cool stuff goes on in the Joro spider webs if people would take the time to look at them and learn from them.鈥�

鈥� Story by Dave Shelles

Photos by Darnell Wilburn

Video by Sophie Schohan

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