Exotic spiders crawl into the UK

14 Oct, 2008 | SnippetsTdp

I should mention that, like many people, I hate spiders.

Researchers believe arachnids arriving in imports of food and plants are now able to survive and spread thanks to the UK's increasingly mild climate.

The new inhabitants include a species of false widow spider and some believe the deadly black widow could be next to invade.

Conservation group Buglife wants import rules to be strengthened to stem the tide of alien species invasion.

Matt Shardlow, director of Buglife, told BBC News: "Other countries in the world take great care about what biological material they allow in, because it can contain pests that can damage our goods, our livelihoods, our health and our biodiversity.


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