The 'Joro Spider' Will Allegedly 'Colonize' The East Coast This Spring, Scaring Meme Creators Into Action

An invasive species of spiders called the Joro spider has infiltrated social media today where news outlets have claimed it will "colonize" America's East Coast in the spring.

It was reported by the University of Georgia last week that the Joro spider is both the "size of a human child's hand" and will be "parachuting down from the sky." As early as May 2022, a projected "millions" of them are expected to be “ballooning” up and down America's East Coast. The spiders have reportedly spread to the U.S. from Japan via shipping containers that housed them. They're already present in Georgia but are expected to spread as far north as Deleware by June. However, similar to the daddy-long-legs, the Joro spider's fangs are too small to penetrate human skin, making them harmless. Regardless, the optics of their bright yellow and blue body is terrifying to many internet users.

The news spread to Twitter today, broken by the news outlet Axios as it trended on the platform this afternoon. Their tweet earned roughly 5,600 likes, but more importantly, 11,400 quote retweets in less than 12 hours. Users posted concerned but humorous tweets regarding America's newest nightmare fuel in the form of memes.

We’re going to have to set the entire East Coast on fire. Sorry, those are the rules. https://t.co/eE4vHt97uP pic.twitter.com/3aICwsh2yB

— Rustin Richtarik (@dieseldog97) March 9, 2022

Despite the hysteria, however, some people labeled Axios' article as clickbait, ignoring the buzzwords and optics of their tweet. Many cited an article from NPR that was also published today, which quelled the worries that were raised. The author emphasized that the Joro spider would be more helpful than harmful in that they are a viable food source for predators like birds. Essentially, the Joro spider is reportedly not as invasive as it was alluded to be. It's also not even that big, only growing to be 3-inches long at most.

Similar to other fear-mongered "invasions," like that of Murder Hornets in May 2020 that became the subject of memes, the Joro spider seems to have been made into an undeserved villain. This doesn't denounce arachnophobes but rather gives them hope that "giant" spiders aren't all out to get them (even if they parachute down from the sky).