do birds eat joro spiders

But Wait, There’s More

Hummingbirds are remarkably powerful flyers. With a wing speed of up to eighty flaps a second, it takes a special camera just to see. Their weight (0.1 to 0.2 ounces), as light as they are is still heavy by spider web standards. Match that with flight velocity and wing speed, and the Joro web will be torn apart.

Hummingbirds enjoy eating spiders, so if you spot one near a Joro web, know that it’s either searching for something to eat or to break free of the web so it can construct a nest.

Predators are a part of the ecosystem, the circle of life. Sometimes, we wish the hunted was, in fact, not hunted. Although we may not like the hunter for doing what it was designed to do

Is it improper for a lion to eat a zebra, a robin to eat an earthworm, or a frog to eat a mosquito?

It’s unlikely that the spider is consuming the hummingbird in this specific instance.

If you are a hummingbird lover (and who isn’t?), and you notice that the number of birds is declining while the number of spiders is rising, there may be another reason.

Find out what Joro spiders actually eat.

: A color plate illustration from Ernst Haeckel’s Kunstformen der Natur (1899)

What eats the Joro spider?

Generally speaking, joro spiders are consumed by birds and other predators that hunt insects and spiders. It’s unclear what these spiders do and how they affect the ecosystem because they’re relatively new to the US.

How are Joro spiders moving about the United States?

Joro spiders use two primary methods to move around. Hitchhiking with people is one way to do this; you end up in cargo that is transported throughout the globe and discover new places. The other method is through a process known as ballooning.

When freshly hatched spiderlings balloon—a.k.a. climb as high as they can, stand with their legs raised—they release multiple silk threads from their spinnerets. These thin silk threads act as a parachute of sorts. The spiderlings are carried by the wind and move with the currents in the air.

Species and other environmental conditions (such as wind speeds) can cause spiderlings to be carried hundreds or even thousands of miles away by ballooning. According to current estimates, the Joro spider is only being dispersed up to 80 miles from its original location into neighboring states. Thats roughly about 8-10 miles per year so far.

FAQ

What animals eat Joro spiders?

What are the predators of the Joro spider?

Do hummingbirds eat Joro spiders?

What kills Joro spiders?