(WTVO) — Did you have this on your 2022 bingo card?
According to University of Georgia scientists, an invasive species of giant parachuting spiders could show up along the entire East Coast of the U.S.
The 3-inch long Joro Spider originally made its way to Georgia from Japan and has slowly begun to spread out, WISN reports.
“It doesn’t have anything that’s controlling its population size in the new habitat, but it has perfect conditions to spread,” said Benjamin Frick, co-author of the study at Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia.
The spiders can travel using their webs like parachutes and ride on the wind and have the ability to survive the cold.
“So in our experiment, we exposed them to a brief period of cold only for a couple of minutes at below-freezing temperatures and most of the Joros did just fine,” Andy Davis, co-author of the study, said.
Even though the giant spider may look menacing, researchers say they shouldn’t pose a danger to humans.
“Its fangs are so small relative to most human skin that it probably won’t be able to get its fangs into you even if it wanted to,” Frick said.
Researchers said the East Coast can expect to see webs around late May into early June, but the really big webs, made by the female spiders, will start around fall.