Major news outlets have reported that the east coast is facing a summer invasion of “giant venomous flying spiders”, as Newsweek put it in an article published today.

The invasive species, known as the Joro spider, is originally from East Asia and was unintentionally transported by way of cargo shipments, international trade and personal travel, the New Jersey Pest Control said.

Female Joros are much larger than males, have a leg span of four inches, and have vibrant yellow and gray bodies. They can easily travel by using a technique called “ballooning,” where they release silk threads into the air, allowing them to be carried by the wind.

They have been making their way north since their first appearance in Georgia in 2010, Newsweek said. They have been spotted in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia.

The palm-sized spiders have also been found in West Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio. José R. Ramírez-Garofalo, an ecologist at Rutgers University’s Lockwood Lab, told CBS News that it’s only a matter of time before they reach New York and New Jersey.

University of Georgia researcher Andy Davis told the New York Times that the spiders seem to be okay living in the city and have been seen on streetlamps and telephone poles.

Invasive species expert David Coyle told CBS News that the spiders do not pose a threat to humans or pets, but according to USA Today, while their venom is typically not deadly to humans, bites can cause discomfort and allergic reactions in some people.

Andy Davis, a research scientist at the University of Georgia’s Odum School of Ecology, told 6ABC that their fangs are incapable of breaking human skin.

The spiders can also “disrupt the delicate balance of local ecosystems,” experts said, and may decrease native insect populations.

For more on the species, you can read Wikipedia.com’s entry.

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Photo: iStock