Scientists have warned that giant Joro spiders might soon invade the whole eastern coast of the United States.

The brilliantly coloured spiders are an invasive species that came to the United States from East Asia in 2013 and have since spread throughout Georgia.

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According to a study published in the journal Physiological Entomology, the Joro spider could be expected to spread beyond its current area in the southeastern United States due to several developed characteristics.

Joro spiders can grow to be 3 inches long and spin huge webs of golden or yellow silk. They are distinguished by brilliant yellow and black stripes on their legs and abdomens. The spiders utilise venom to capture and kill their prey, but they are not harmful to human beings.

Scientists believe the spiders were brought to the United States on ships and can be expected to spread beyond the southeastern states by human travel.

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“The potential for these spiders to be spread through people’s movements is very high,” research co-author Benjamin Frick of the University of Georgia’s Odum School of Ecology (UGA) stated in a statement. “Anecdotally, right before we published this study, we got a report from a grad student at UGA who had accidentally transported one of these to Oklahoma.”

The researchers compared the Joro spider to a similar spider called the golden silk spider, which also dwells in the southeastern states after migrating from the tropics.

Despite some similarities, they discovered that Joro spiders have a metabolism twice as high as golden silk spiders and heart rates that are 77 percent faster when exposed to low temperatures. This means they’ll be able to withstand the lower temperatures seen further north.

The researchers behind the study stated that the spiders were already endemic and recommended people not to kill them unnecessarily.

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In a statement, research author Andy Davis from the University of Georgia’s Odum School of Ecology noted, “People should try to learn to live with them. If they’re literally in your way, I can see taking a web down and moving them to the side, but they’re just going to be back next year.”

Residents in Georgia have reported noticing a growing number of the webs recently, leading experts to believe they are already spreading swiftly throughout the region.

Joro spiders are native to Japan and can be found throughout the country, which has a climate similar to the East Coast of the United States.

“Just by looking at that, it looks like the Joros could probably survive throughout most of the Eastern Seaboard here, which is pretty sobering,” Davis said.