BOSTON, Mass. — It’s the sighting getting a lot of attention around New England: a Joro spider spotted in Massachusetts over by Beacon Hill in Boston recently.

 We spoke with UMass Lowell Associate Professor Jessica Garb about the creature.

"So it's a spider that's native to Eastern Asia. So you would naturally find it in places like Japan and it was introduced into the United States," said Garb. "I'm not sure it's known exactly when it was, but I believe they were first cited in 2013 in Georgia."

Garb said the Joro spiders have become very common in the Southeast over the last decade.

She said the insects are very distinct growing up to about 5 inches long.

"It's very large compared to most spiders we see around here," she said. "Almost all of them and it's quite beautiful and striking looking. So it has a bright yellow coloration, and it has a very large web, the web has that yellowish coloration to it and also it's an orb web."

Garb said the Joro spiders are very adaptable and can be spotted in both major cities as well as on farmland.

She said while Joro spiders do carry venom, they do not have a history of being aggressive toward people.

"Most spiders do not want to bite people," she said. "In fact most spiders are very scared of people and the ones that do it, it's usually like as a last result to defend itself."

Garb said fall brings the natural end of life cycle for the species so it's unclear yet how many more will emerge until next Spring when newborn Joro spiders typically hatch.

"They could establish a population here especially if this one that was observed has already been making egg cases," she said. "Like if it came here as an adult, it might've been a fertilized female and maybe its making egg cases, and maybe they're going to hatch out next spring. There could also be even more individuals than just the one with which it's mating."

Garb says people should report any citing's of Joro spiders to the Jorowatch website for research purposes.