The massive yellow-and-black-bodied critters known for parachuting through the air with their spidey strings are headed north, researchers say. And people across the East Coast are sharing images of what the Joro spider invasion looks like from their own backyards. Joro spiders were first spotted in Georgia in 2014, but experts believe they may have arrived as early as 2010. Since then, they've rapidly spread across the South, with observations reported across more than half a dozen states.
North CarolinaThere isn't anything itsy-bitsy about this spider. Females can grow to have a leg span of up to 4 inches — nearly the size of the average woman's hand. South CarolinaJoro spiders may be big, but their webs are even bigger. One researcher said he's seen webs as wide as six feet, while others have said their webs can be more than 10 feet wide.