A massive Joro spider web glistens in backlight sunshine in a Georgia backyard.

This spider web is strong enough for a bird to sit on, a scientific first

The newly recorded behavior could mean the jorō spider, an invasive species, can provide a small but positive benefit to other wildlife.

A massive Joro spider web glistens in backlight sunshine in a Georgia backyard.
Photograph by BluIz60, Alamy Stock Photo

On September 13, 2022, Atlanta-based naturalist and garden expert Arty Schronce looked out his kitchen window and saw what he thought was a female cardinal trapped in a huge, golden spiderweb.

That would have been strange enough—but upon closer inspection, Schronce realized that the bird wasn’t stuck after all. It actually was perched on a strand of the web and taking swipes at the large black, yellow, and red arachnid that built it: an invasive jorō spider (Trichonephila clavata).  

After the spider was scared off, the cardinal gobbled up a few of the insects that had become caught in the web. Then it flew away.  

The whole encounter lasted just two minutes, but Schronce suspected he’d just witnessed something special. When

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