Nephila clavata L. Koch, the Joro Spider of East Asia, newly recorded from North America (Araneae: Nephilidae)

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1 Georgia Museum of Natural History and Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
2 Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, USA
3 Georgia Museum of Natural History and Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.632v4
Published
Accepted
Subject Areas
Ecology, Entomology, Genetics, Taxonomy, Coupled Natural and Human Systems
Keywords
Araneae, Nephilidae, non-native, Georgia, description, diagnosis, distribution, new record, citizen science, COI
Copyright
© 2014 Hoebeke et al.
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ PrePrints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Hoebeke ER, Huffmaster W, Freeman BJ. 2014. Nephila clavata L. Koch, the Joro Spider of East Asia, newly recorded from North America (Araneae: Nephilidae) PeerJ PrePrints 2:e632v4

Abstract

Nephila clavata L. Koch, known as the Joro spider and native to East Asia (Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan), is newly reported from North America. Specimens from several locations in northeast Georgia were collected from around residential properties in Barrow, Jackson, and Madison counties in late October and early November 2014. These are the first confirmed records of the species in the New World. Our collections, along with confirmed images provided by private citizens, suggest the Joro spider is established in northeast Georgia. Genomic sequence data for the COI gene obtained from two specimens conforms to published sequences for N. clavata, providing additional confirmation of species identity. Known collection records are listed and mapped using geocoding. Our observations are summarized along with published background information on biology in Asia and we hypothesize on the invasion history and mode of introduction into North America. Recognition features are given and photographic images of the male and female are provided to aid in their differentiation from the one native species of the genus (Nephila clavipes) in North America.

Author Comment

This is the 4th version, to reformat the references and correct a typo made in converting miles to km in Figure 2.