Do the giant flying Joro spiders have mass. reached? Here's what we know

An invasive species in New England has been spotted in a Boston neighborhood, according to multiple reports.

A photographer found the Joro spider in Beacon Hill on September 10, NBC Boston reported. Photographer Joe Schifferdecker's images showed the eight-legged creatures in a net, another with a caught fly.

According to CBS News, a Mount Vernon Street resident also took photos of the spider, which was also seen in a web in Beacon Hill.

According to a 2022 University of Georgia report, they also “fly” as a “parachute spider,” using their webs to “fly” like a balloon to travel with the wind.

These feisty spiders were discovered in Georgia in 2013 and spread throughout the Southeast, the report continued.

In April, New Jersey Pest Control said the spiders could potentially invade the New York area sometime this year.

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources was searching for these spiders at the time.

As for the Beacon Hill sightings, the agency could not confirm Thursday that the spiders were actually in Boston.

Due to colder winters, these spiders are unlikely to appear in Western Massachusetts.

But rising temperatures in eastern Massachusetts increase the likelihood that the spiders can survive the winter, the agency said.

It is not clear whether the spider's egg sacs produced in the fall could survive in colder climates because the eggs are too delicate, the agency added.

According to a University of Georgia study, the Joro spider has a heart rate 77% higher than other spiders and can survive a short freeze that kills many of its cousins

This means that the Joro spider's body functions better in a cold environment, making it easier for them to travel to the cool northeast.

Much of the U.S., including the Commonwealth, has been experiencing warmer winters for the past 45 years, according to an analysis of winter temperature data from 1980 to 2024 by Harry Stevens, a columnist for The Washington Post's Climate Lab section.

In particular, New England winters are warming the fastest, Stevens wrote.

“And warming winters feed on themselves,” he wrote. “With less ice and snow reflecting sunlight back into space, the land absorbs more heat, driving up temperatures.”

MassLive News Editor Heather Morrison contributed to this story.