LISTEN: According to a new study, the Joro spiders you see around your neighborhood every year might be under a lot of stress. GPB's Chase McGee reports.
According to a new study, the Joro spiders you see around your neighborhood every year might be under a lot of stress.
Although they look pretty docile, chances are that Joro spider you see near a roadway or other high-traffic area has a racing heart.
A study from the University of Georgia and Valdosta State University is examining how the invasive spider — originally from eastern Asia but has spread through Georgia in the past decade — reacts to stress by looking at them under a microscope to study their physical response.
Andy Davis, a research scientist at the University of Georgia, said that stress could also apply to other creatures near human habitats.
"Some people may not care whether the Joro spiders are stressed or not, you know, but I think this study really highlights something that a lot of entomologists even kind of forget: that insects and arachnids can get stressed, just like other animals."
Erin Grabarczyk is an assistant professor of biology at Valdosta State. She said she's observed many Joros living in high-stress areas with seemingly no intent to move.
"One of my study sites was Valdosta State's field station, which is right next to a highway," she said. "It's right next to I-75, and it is so noisy. But there were so many spiders living there."
That could make conservation efforts difficult, but not impossible.
Grabarczyk noted that places like national parks reduce road noise by encouraging drivers to slow down.
Future studies could show how other invertebrates adapt and change in stressful environments.
