[flanking_pajama]

I know this article and the comments are pretty light about this, but I really do wonder what they eat and what we're eventually going to hear about being muscled out of the local ecosystems as a result of their success. At least their introduction wasn't intentional, which tbh is kind of scary in itself.

Globalism: it's for spiders, too.

[fjert]

All I could find is that we know they eat brown marmorated stink bugs[0].

"Joro spiders also appear to be able to capture and feed on at least one insect that other local spiders are not: adult brown marmorated stink bugs, an invasive pest that can infest houses and damage crops."

[0] https://news.uga.edu/joro-spiders-are-here-to-stay/

[buu700]

How much would it cost to import more Joro spiders? I'll be writing to my local representatives immediately.

[viraptor]

Cane toads in Australia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads_in_Australia

> In June 1935, 102 cane toads were imported to Gordonvale from Hawaii

> Since their release, toads have rapidly multiplied in population and now number over 200 million (...) but also no evidence indicates that they have affected the cane beetles for which they were introduced to prey upon.

[nneonneo]

…and that’s how we end up with invasive species problems.

[yissp]

If they get out of hand, just bring in another species that preys on the spiders, problem solved :)

[AutumnCurtain]

That's the beauty of it. When winter rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.

[belval]

For those that didn't watch the Simpsons, this is very relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuiK7jcC1fY

[11thEarlOfMar]

Just like the salmon brought into the Great Lakes to take on the alewives. Which were brought in to take on the zebra muscles[0]. Which came in [bilges from ships?].

I remember visiting the Lake Michigan dunes in Indiana in the 70s, only to encounter what appeared to the small me to be mountains of dead alewife. Ten years later, my grandfather took me salmon fishing there. I'd imagine that by now, the ecosystems of the Great Lakes bear little resemblance to what they contained 200 years ago. Sad in a way, but the whole of Earth seems destined to becoming a single, climate-based ecosystem. Island ecologies may survive for a few centuries, but the main continents are going to become very consistent, with all the world-champion species holding sway.

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=878434...

[sundvor]

Do you need any rabbits? Cheers from Australia

[neurostimulant]

Can human be considered an invasive species? Everywhere humans go, ecosystem disruption will soon follow.

[jsnodlin]

I would really appreciate if they ate the Japanese beetle as well. Those things really take a toll on my orchard in May/June

[jwozn]

There is some good news there. From an article posted in a different comment: "Joros don’t appear to have much of an effect on local food webs or ecosystems, said Andy Davis, corresponding author of the study and a research scientist in the Odum School of Ecology. They may even serve as an additional food source for native predators like birds." [0]

[0] https://news.uga.edu/joro-spiders-likely-to-spread-beyond-ge...

[spyspy]

Spotted lanternflies with any luck

[Ericson2314]

Yes was thinking the same. Tree of heaven -> lanternflies -> these spiders would be a pretty tight fable!

[BirAdam]

Here in GA, there are already multiple types of orb weaver and these are in the same niche with one exception: they will also eat stink bugs. There are also many birds who eat the orb weavers and will also eat the Joros. They basically slide right in without too much serious impact.