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Arachiphobia-- Joro Spider Edition

The Joro spider has made it's grand debute in our back yard. At first I confirmed the spiders were Joros with the University of Georgia. The first picture was confirmed as a juvenile female. The second picture I grabbed off the net showing what they're really like---large and very scarey. Their appearance is one thing, but there are other notable characteristics. The webs are large, deep and sticky. They are considered 3-D. They have facets of typical spiral webs all connected. The size is immense compared to other spiders around here in North Georgia. The web can easily span 10 or more feet. The filiments are incredibly strong and clingy. You find out how strong the filiments are when you walk into them. For additional amusement, the Joro's webs are often built at human face level. Yes, that's right. That big scarey spider in a large gooey web (built overnight) at face level just right for walking into. Great experience. These Joros are proliferating at a great rate. They are pretty much everywhere. I bought spray just for them. I have killed dozens and dozens.

Joro article

Wikipedia I updated Wikipedia with my pic and the correction about the size of the webs.

To give you a better idea of the Joro webs and spiders, I took the first pic zoomed way in. You can see the web about 100 feet away with the naked eye. And the second pic is what I found in the middle. Just getting a pic of a spider web is difficult let alone from 100 feet away. The web traverses about 3 meters. Leaves get tangled in these webs they are so strong.

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