Alarm over the possible arrival of the Joro spider in the greater New York City area has sparked concern across the Northeast over the scary-looking eight-legged creature. But experts are advising residents to stay calm, calling the arachnid harmless and also questioning both whether and when the spider will arrive up north.
“There’s no reason to panic for this,” David Coyle, an assistant professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation at Clemson University, tells TIME.
The yellow and gray-colored arachnids are originally from east Asia. The creatures were first documented in the southeastern U.S. around 2013, but Coyle says it’s also possible that the spider arrived as early as 2010. Experts guess that the arachnids likely hitchhiked on cargo containers traveling to a town north of Atlanta.
Joro spiders are an invasive—meaning nonnative—species. In the U.S., the creatures mostly reside in North Georgia, the Appalachian region of South Carolina, the far west corner of North Carolina, and the far southeastern corner of Tennessee. Joro spiders have also been recorded as far north as Baltimore, according to inaturalist.org.
The spiders are around the size of a woman’s hand, with a body up to an inch long, and a leg span of up to four inches. Despite their size, experts say they are harmless. “In areas where the populations are high—are they annoying? Absolutely. They’re everywhere and their webs are huge,” says Coyle. “But in terms of danger, we haven’t seen anything like that.”
Here’s what to know about the spider.
Will the spider actually reach New York City?
While it is possible the Joro spider could travel to New York City, it would have to reach the metro area through some sort of human-aided movement.
“In terms of if or when [the Joro spider] will get there, we have no idea. It could be a year, could be a decade—there’s really no way to tell. On its own, it’s not really traveling that far,” says Coyle….
