ATLANTA — Those of us in Georgia have been familiar for a while with the Joro spider, the distinctive-looking yellow and black spiders that arrived here from Asia in 2015 and have been proliferating ever since.
But due to recent University of Georgia research that found the Joro spiders are likely to expand outside the Peach State soon and colonize up the East Coast, as well as subsequent news coverage, a lot more people are suddenly interested in these spiders.
With long, spindly legs and yellow and black coloring and striping patterns, the Joro spider looks practically radioactive.
But are they actually dangerous?
Are Joro spiders poisonous?
The short answer is yes because technically, all spiders are venomous, but the longer answer is you've got nothing to worry about.
Joro spiders are entirely harmless, and in fact their fangs aren't even big enough to puncture human skin, as Axios reported.
Back in November, a Georgia Gwinnett College professor of biology, Christopher Brown, explained why there's no reason to worry about the Joro.
"All spiders are venomous; it's how they paralyze their prey and dissolve their insides, letting them feed," Brown said. "But Joro venom isn't harmful to people. Even though Joro are not native to North America, they do not have venom that would hurt too much."
The only thing you've really got to worry about with Joro spiders are their large webs. As UGA entomologist Will Hudson told the Associated Press back in October, they're a "real mess."
“Nobody wants to come out of the door in the morning, walk down the steps and get a face full of spider web," he said.
So, to recap: Yes, venomous, because that's how all spiders work. No, though, not harmful to humans. But, yes, annoying to get a face full of spider web.