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Trichonephila clavata

(Redirected from Nephila clavata)
"Joro spider" redirects here. For the mythological creature, see Jorōgumo.

Trichonephila clavata, also known as the Joro-spider (ジョロウグモ, Jorō-gumo), is a spider in the Trichonephila genus. Native to East Asia, it is found throughout China, Japan (except Hokkaidō), Korea, and Taiwan, and has been spreading across North America since the 2010s. It rarely bites humans, and its venom is not deadly.

Trichonephila clavata
Female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Nephilidae
Genus: Trichonephila
Species:
T. clavata
Binomial name
Trichonephila clavata
(L. Koch, 1878)[2]
Synonyms[2]
  • Nephila clavata L. Koch, 1878
  • Nephila limbata Thorell, 1898
  • Nephila obnubila Simon, 1906
  • Nephila clavatoides Schenkel, 1953
  • Nephila clavata cavalierei Schenkel, 1963
  • Argiope maja Bösenberg & Strand, 1906

In 2019, this species was moved from the genus Nephila to Trichonephila. Another species from this genus, Trichonephila plumipes, is commonly found in Australia. It also was moved from Nephila to Trichonephila, along with 10 other species.[3]

Characteristics

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Female seen from below

Trichonephila clavata pass winter as eggs and scatter as tiny juveniles in the spring. Like most spiders, females are much larger than males. The adult female's body size is 17–25 millimetres (0.67–0.98 in) while the male's is 7–10 millimetres (0.28–0.39 in).

The web of females may reach several meters in length. In sunlight, the yellow threads appear to be a rich gold color. The structure of the web seen in cross-section is unusual for an orb web; it has three layers: the central orb, plus two irregular layers in front and behind the orb.

Both males and females have large abdomen and long legs. The adult female individual has stripes of yellow and dark blue, with red toward the rear of the abdomen. In autumn, smaller males may be seen in the webs of the females for copulating. After mating, the female spins an egg sack on a tree, laying 400 to 1500 eggs in one sack. Her lifecycle ends by late autumn or early winter with the death of the spider. The next generation emerges in spring.

Risks to people

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This spider's bite does not pose significant risks to humans. Their small fangs and reluctant biting behavior make it unlikely for a bite to occur. When bites do take place, the venom is weak. The temporary pain and redness has been compared to that of a bee sting.[4]

In folklore

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The common name of the spider comes from the jorōgumo, a legendary spider in Japanese folklore that can transform into a beautiful woman who can breathe fire and control other spiders.[5] She seeks men to seduce, whom she then binds in her silk and devours.

This spider was about 5 cm long. The large one is the female and the smaller one in the background is the male - filmed in Tokyo, Japan on 29 September 2013

Introduced species in North America

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The spider is an introduced species in northeast Georgia and northwest/upstate South Carolina in North America. They were first spotted in Hoschton, Georgia, in 2013. Since then, they have been spotted in numerous locations in northeast Georgia, including the Athens, Georgia, area, and also in Greenville, South Carolina. It is believed that the species will become naturalized. While the Joro spider was first observed in the warm climates of the Gulf and lower East Coast, they are now expected to colonize much of the middle Eastern Seaboard of the United States due to their relative imperviousness to modest cold.[6][7]

Scientists confirmed the first known occurrence of T. clavata in North America in 2014,[8] and as of October 2022, T. clavata's range spans at least 120,000 km2 (46,000 sq mi), occurring across the US states of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee, with additional reports in Alabama, Maryland, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Its pattern of spread suggests it is primarily driven by natural dispersal mechanisms, such as ballooning, though human-mediated transport cannot be discounted.[9][8][10][11][12]

The Joro spider has been spotted in many eastern US states, including Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Florida, and West Virginia. The Joro spider appeared in the southern portions of New York state and surrounding US states sometime in the summer of 2024.[13][14] The Joro spiders "seem to be OK with living in a city," said University of Georgia researcher Andy Davis, adding that he has seen the Joro spiders on street lamps and telephone poles.[13] In September 2024, one was photographed in Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts.[15]

As of 2022, because of the relative lack of information about its ecology, their impact on their new ecosystem is unknown. They have been observed catching the brown marmorated stink bug (Halymorpha halys), an invasive species that native spiders have not been known to eat, and it has also been hoped that they may consume mosquitoes and flies, although flies, mosquitoes, and many other flying insects are consumed by native species of all sorts. Some hope that the impact of the species will be positive due to their harmless nature and consumption of primarily invasive or nuisance insects.[7][16]

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nephila clavata.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Kuntner, M.; Rudolf, E.; Cardoso, P. (2017). "Nephila clavata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T89292211A89292868. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T89292211A89292868.en. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Taxon details Trichonephila clavata (L. Koch, 1878)". World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  3. ^ Kuntner, Matjaz; Hamilton, Chris; Cheng, Ren-Chung; Gregorič, Matjaž; et al. (2019). "Golden Orbweavers Ignore Biological Rules: Phylogenomic and Comparative Analyses Unravel a Complex Evolution of Sexual Size Dimorphism" (PDF). Systematic Biology. 68 (1147): 555–572. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syy082. PMC 6568015. PMID 30517732.
  4. ^ "Jorō Spiders". Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences. Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  5. ^ "The Legend of the Jorōgumo". Joro Spider Information. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  6. ^ Romo, Rebecca (9 March 2022). "No, you don't need to worry about joro spiders. They may even be helpful in some ways". NPR. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  7. ^ a b Gravrilles, Beth (26 October 2020). "Like it or not, Joro spiders are here to stay". UGA TODAY. Athens, Georgia. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  8. ^ a b Hoebeke ER, Huffmaster W, Freeman BJ (5 February 2015). "Trichonephila clavata L Koch, the Joro Spider of East Asia, newly recorded from North America (Araneae: Nephilidae)". PeerJ. 3: e763. doi:10.7717/peerj.763. PMC 4327315. PMID 25699210.
  9. ^ Chuang, A. (2023). "The Jorō spider (Trichonephila clavata) in the southeastern U.S.: an opportunity for research and a call for reasonable journalism". Biol Invasions. 25 (1): 17–26. Bibcode:2023BiInv..25...17C. doi:10.1007/s10530-022-02914-3. S2CID 253475825.
  10. ^ "Scientists confirm first North American record of East Asian Joro spider". SciGuru. 17 March 2015.
  11. ^ Shearer L (30 October 2014). "Madison County man captures spider never before seen in North America". Athens Banner. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020.
  12. ^ Drake N (19 March 2015). "Asian "Fortune-Teller" Spider Found in U.S. for First Time". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  13. ^ a b Cohen, Li (5 June 2024). "Giant venomous flying spiders with 4-inch legs heading to New York area as they spread across East Coast, experts say - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  14. ^ Chasan, Aliza (18 September 2024). "Giant "flying" Joro spiders reported across Georgia — and now confirmed in Pennsylvania - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  15. ^ Sobey, Rick (25 September 2024). "A giant Joro spider has been spotted in Boston: 'The most northern sighting yet'". Boston Herald. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  16. ^ Aridi, Rasha, ‘Like a Scene Out of ‘Arachnophobia,” Invasive Spiders Take Over Northern Georgia - Scientists are torn on whether the Joro spider could have positive or negative effects on the native ecosystem, Smithsonian, 9 November 2021
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