Wasp spiders increasingly seen in West Midlands (www.bbc.co.uk)

submitted 4 days ago by GreyShuck@feddit.uk to c/nature@feddit.uk

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One of the UK's largest spider species has been spotted in the West Midlands as warmer temperatures push it more than 100 miles from its usual habitat.

The wasp spider, known for its distinctive yellow, black and white stripes, is traditionally found in southern England but has been recorded increasingly further north in recent years

Unlike its namesake, the species cannot fly, but spiderlings can travel long distances by "ballooning" on silk strands carried by the wind.

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[-] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

"All spiders are venomous because that's how they catch their prey," she said, but added: "Only a handful can pierce human skin and none have venom that can harm us."

Wait, what? That's some irresponsible reporting by the Beeb. While it's true that all spiders are venomous because that's how they kill (not catch) their prey (they do that with their webs), and it's true that many of them can't pierce human skin and are thus harmless to humans — you can handle these spiders all you want and you may make it fight for its life, but it can't penetrate your skin — there are some that can and people do get serious infections from them.

Have they never heard of the black widow spider? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latrodectus

Or the brown recluse? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_recluse_spider

...but, good to know those spiders are harmless to humans. However, very irresponsible to say no spider can harm humans with its venom. Maybe none that can be frequently found in the UK? Still, they should have qualified that.

this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2026

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