The Garden Spider That East Coasters Will Be Seeing More Of In 2026

Spiders can provide a lot of benefits in the landscape since they often eat insects that would otherwise feed on your precious plants. But that doesn't mean you always want to see these creepy crawlies in your garden. This can especially be the case with invasive spiders that aren't even native to your region. But if you live on the East Coast of the United States, you'll likely be seeing more massive invasive spiders, specifically Joro spiders (Trichonephila clavata), this summer.

Native to Eastern Asia, Joro spiders first arrived in the States around 2014 and have been spreading along the East Coast ever since. They're now found everywhere from New York to Alabama. They have even been spotted in Boston, Massachusetts. Female Joro spiders, which can reach up to 4 inches, are colorful and boast yellow and blue markings. Males are smaller and brown. The female Joro's web can be up to 10 feet across and is a unique golden color. Despite the intimidating size of these spiders and their webs, Joros are relatively harmless. They rarely bite, and when they do, it's only as painful as a mosquito bite. While these spiders are being described as invasive, when talking with Northern Virginia Magazine, Pat Wooden, the lab manager at Virginia Tech's Insect ID lab, advised people not to kill Joro spiders, as they can easily be confused with native orb-weaver species.

While the environmental impact of Joro spiders in North America is still being studied, they have been found to eat both native and invasive species. Happily, they actively avoid eating monarch butterflies. It's still unclear to what extent they will outcompete native spiders, but there is some evidence that biodiversity has decreased in areas of the U.S. where Joro spiders are common.

If you have Joro spiders taking over your yard and you'd like them to relocate, your best bet is to simply destroy their webs. You can also give growing some garden plants that have a reputation for repelling spiders a shot. Joros aren't spiders that tend to enter houses or buildings, so you don't need to worry about finding them or their massive webs in your kitchen or dining room. While it should rarely be necessary to kill a Joro spider, they can be killed using standard insecticides.