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New and unusual insects are making their way over to the UK and surviving in our increasingly mild climate.

Tarantulas and other creepy crawlies that might usually have died after arriving here on consignments of fruit are now coping with our climate and making their home here.

Insects play an important part in our ecosystem by pollinating much of our countryside and providing an essential food source for birds and mammals. But conservationists are worried that the new and more deadly foreign species will soon start to out-compete our existing native species.





Wasp Spider

Thought to have arrived in the UK from Europe, the wasp spider has originally been restricted to southern areas of Britain. But milder climates have seen it spread northwards and there have been reported sightings in Cambridge.

They live in long grass and low vegetation and feed on flying insects, grasshoppers and beetles. They kill their prey by wrapping them in their silk and poisoning them.




Tarantula

Sightings of tarantulas are a fairly common occurrence in the UK now but they are not yet known to be colonising here. However, conservationists are beginning to worry that eventually some species could start reproducing and multiplying here.

While usually not dangerous to humans they are to other insects and could eventually wipe out some of our native insects.




Sightings of the deadly black widow spider in the UK are currently still extremely rare. Although its bite is not usually fatal to humans, the spider is still not something you would want to find in your back garden.

The black widow variety, pictured above, refers to North American species, best known for their dark coloration and red hourglass pattern. One other fact that might put you off them, black widows are known to eat their mate.





And finally, one of our own very unusual insects that is going in the opposite direction, namely extinction.

It is not difficult to see why this spider is called a Ladybird spider. The male spider has a red spotted abdomen, while the female is significantly bigger and black in colour.

Sadly, the spider is incredibly rare, in fact it is the rarest spider in Britain and is officially listed as endangered and protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. "The extinction of this beautiful spider would be a tragic loss to the UK's wildlife," say conservation group Buglife.


MSN.co.uk