WINTERVILLE, GEORGIA — People in northern Georgia are freaking out because their yards are being taken over by huge alien spiders that are covering everything in thick clouds of spider web.
Here are the details: The Guardian reports that northern Georgia is suffering from an infestation of giant invasive spiders called Joro spiders.
Going by the scientific name Trichonephila clavata, these spiders are having a very visible effect on the people of the region, as they spin dense clouds of spiderweb that can be as deep as 3 meters.
The invasive species was first spotted in Georgia in 2014, but this year their numbers have exploded and people are finding their yards covered in dense clouds of spiderweb.
It doesn’t help that these large and spooky webs also contain multiple large spiders that, when fully grown, can each easily cover a large man’s hand.
Joro spiders are common in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan.
It is unclear how they made their way to the U.S. Researchers say the particular abundance of the spiders this year could have been caused by changes in weather.
Will Hudson, an entomologist at the University of Georgia, said that he had killed more than 300 of the spiders, as they made his porch unusable by covering it with clouds of spider web.
“The webs are a real mess,” Hudson said.
“Nobody wants to come out of the door in the morning, walk down the steps and get a face full of spiderweb.”