Palm-size invasive spiders? Another little something to look forward to.

I don't mind spiders. 

They're not wasps. They're not snakes. They're not cockroaches. They're not rats. Or even mice.

Spiders make nice. 

They have a fun kids' song written about them.

They star in books, like Charlotte's Web and Miss Spider's Tea Party. 

They give us Spider Man. 

And they make spider webs, which are beautiful - and quite a feat of engineering - however annoying it is to spy one in an out-of-reach corner of the ceiling. (I have 12 foot ceilings in my LR, making out-of-reach out-of-reach.)

So I'm okay with spiders.

And yet, I'm not St. Francis of Assisi. 

Not that I would ever pull the legs off of a daddy-long-legs, but I have been bitten a few times by spiders and am not particularly enamored of them. And, rather than let them stroll around my house unimpeded/univited, I've stepped on a few eensie weensie black spiders in my time. But I may have to step up my spider-stomping game once the joro spiders arrive in Boston. That might not be for a few years, but I'm a big believer in being prepared.

The joro spider will be a lot bigger a stomp than a black spider, as it's anything but eensie weensie.

 ...native to Japan, [it] can span 3 to 4 inches with its legs outstretched and has a bulbous abdomen. (Source: Boston Globe)

Between the span, the bulbous abdomen (described as "about the size of a grape") and the bright colors - I must say, the joro is a lot more vibrant-looking than your average bland and boring daddy-long-legs - they should be easy enough to spot. 

Now found in the southeast:

New research from the University of Georgia suggests the joro spider could eventually colonize much of the East Coast. The spiders can use their silks to fly through the air — a behavior known as ballooning — and get carried by the wind to new locales. They’re also capable of hitching rides with humans on cars or in luggage.

The good news is that, even though the joro is pretty good sized, they're not likely to attack. 

“They are really very timid, and, their fangs are quite short, so if a person were to run into a web (which is quite likely), the spider will probably just run away,” [University of Georgia research scientist Andy] Davis said. “Even if it wanted to bite you it probably couldn’t!”

Wonder what they mean when they say that it's "quite likely" that a person would "run into a web?" Will the joros be so omni-present once they colonize that we won't be able to avoid close encounters with them? 

Alligators are also making their way north. Wonder if they eat joros?