We like spiders around here. Their webs are beautiful, especially in the summer when they catch the early-morning dew; the webs of orb-weaver spiders look like a web of diamonds in the morning sun. But best of all, they eat flies and mosquitoes. Some people don't like spiders, and some even have an irrational fear of our eight-legged neighbors, so for these folks, some news out of Georgia may be disturbing. In that state, an invasive spider, the Eurasian Joro spider, has adapted well to urban life and is poised to spread.

The researchers found that while Joro spiders near busier roads are somewhat less likely to attack simulated prey, the spiders don’t seem to be hurting for it and clock in at about the same weight as their counterparts in less busy locations. That suggests the species can successfully compensate for its human-dominated landscape.

“If you’re a spider, you rely on vibrations to do your job and catch bugs,” said Andy Davis, corresponding author of the study and a research scientist in UGA’s Odum School of Ecology. “But these Joro webs are everywhere in the fall, including right next to busy roads, and the spiders seem to be able to make a living there. For some reason, these spiders seem urban tolerant.”

This is interesting because of the nature of orb-weaving spiders, like the Joro spider. I've seen Joro spiders and their webs in Japan; the spiders themselves can be three to four inches across, and their lovely, intricate webs can span feet. In the Land of the Rising Sun, you see their webs a lot around the rice fields, which attract a lot of flying bugs, but you also see them in the towns, sometimes very near the rail tracks that run everywhere in that country. So, I'm not terribly surprised that they are doing well in similar environments here. And, while invasive species can be a matter of concern for the existing species that live in an area, the folks in Georgia might not be averse to having a very successful, very hungry new spider catching mosquitoes and flies in that state's cities and towns.

Best of all, the spiders are eating bugs, so we don't have to.

See Related: Food Writer Cuts Her Grocery Bill in Half by Feeding Her Baby Crickets 

It's Official: European Food Will Now Contain Crickets

Plenty of critters are adapting well to human towns and even cities. Raccoons are famously adaptable, even living in major urban areas. White-tailed deer are adapting well to living near humans, especially in suburbs where human gardens and landscaping are welcome fare. Coyotes, too, are smart, adaptable, and like living around people.

Survival, for every species, means a Drunkard's Walk through continually changing landscapes. A trait that enhances survival today may be adverse to survival in a hundred years, or a thousand. Right now, over much of the lower 48, humans are a big part of the landscape, and as we see, animals and plants are adapting. The Joro spiders are just the latest example. And it looks as though they are poised to do well.

Their hardiness is one trait that’s enabled the spiders to explode in population stateside, with numbers easily in the millions now. The new research suggests that the Joros’ tolerance of urban vibrations and sounds is likely another factor in the species’ exponential growth.

But their spread shouldn’t be too alarming, the researchers said. The spiders are rather timid.

So, tamp down on your arachnophobia if you can! It looks like the Joro spider is here to stay.