ATLANTA — Since their arrival in the state, the Joro Spider population has exploded across Georgia.
And while the spiders may scare the heck out of non-insect lovers, new research suggests Joros maintain their cool despite stressful situations.
A study by The University of Georgia and Valdosta State University examines how the spiders react to street, literally putting them under a microscope and studying their physical response.
“Because these spiders live near humans and with one another—they sometimes build and inhabit communal webs, the arachnid equivalent of an apartment complex—(researchers) initially wondered if Joros simply didn’t get stressed,” Scientific American reported.
In the new study, the researchers “restrained them with a forest of pins, threading them between the spiders’ legs and over their abdomens so that the spiders could wiggle around but not move from the spot.”
“There were a couple of times I released a few spiders because I didn’t move fast enough,” undergraduate student researcher Christina Vu said.
While the spiders were stressed, the heart rate for the Joros doubled.
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“Compared with the garden spiders, however, the Joro spiders and golden silk orb weavers had less-variable heartbeats during the 10-minute experiment: while their heart pumped fast, the rate stayed high and steady rather than high with lots of spikes and drops, as seen in the two garden spider species,” the magazine said.
“The Joro spiders, just in general, seem very chill,” Vu said. “They’re not going to fight back; they’re really just taking things as they come, which, I think, is why they do much better around people. They don’t seem to react as much, so they can handle more.”
Joro spiders, identified by their yellow bodies with a big red spot, can grow as much as three or four inches from tip to tip. They have been in North Georgia for over a decade after being introduced in 2014.
One female Joro is capable of laying 500 eggs at a time.
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