Joro Spider: Trichonephila clavata

The Joro spider is native to East Asia and was first detected in Georgia in 2014. Adult females become sexually mature in September and early October. The female’s body is bright yellow with broad, horizontal bluish-green bands on the top side of the abdomen, and large red markings on the bottom side of the abdomen. She also has long, black legs with yellow-orange bands or—rarely—all black legs. Adult males mature by late August. The male’s cephalothorax is light brown with two dark brown long bands on both sides. His abdomen is elongate-oval with a greenish-brown topside that has two yellowish long stripes on both sides of the dark brown middle line.