Asian spider takes hold in Georgia, sends humans scurrying
ATLANTA (AP) — A large spider native to East Asia has spun its thick, golden web on power lines, porches and vegetable patches all over north Georgia this year — a proliferation that has driven some unnerved homeowners indoors and prompted a flood of anxious social media posts.
In metro Atlanta, Jennifer Turpin — a self-described arachnophobe — stopped blowing leaves in her yard after inadvertently walking into a web created by the Joro spider. Stephen Carter has avoided a walking trail along the Chattahoochee River where he encountered Joro webs every dozen steps.
Farther east in Winterville, Georgia, Will Hudson's front porch became unusable amid an abundance of Joro webs 10 feet (3 meters) deep. Hudson estimates he's killed more than 300 of the spiders on his property.
“The webs are a real mess," said Hudson, an entomologist at the University of Georgia. “Nobody wants to come out of the door in the morning, walk down the steps and get a face full of spider web.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/asian-spider-takes-hold-georgia-134321868.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
Probably just a matter of time. Armadillos have already reached this far north. Maybe pythons will be next. We've had fire ants for 20-something years.
....but unless it's my cats I don't understand the killing of spiders. Spiders serve a very useful purpose in or ecology. I don't like that this one is an invasive species, but in general, this gut reaction to kill spiders just puzzles me. I won't deny I've been startled or squeaked a few times when I've spotted one in the house. However, I usually try and capture it and put it outside where it will do some good rather than kill it.
I guess that's one more reason I'm a crazy cat lady. 
