LONDON, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A colorful species of biting spiders native to Britain's south coast have been rapidly migrating north.
Female wasp spiders have been spotted as far north as Surrey and Hertfordshire, and wildlife experts said the arachnids may travel much further north before the end of autumn, The Daily Mail reported Tuesday.
"We are getting a lot of reports of people finding them in their gardens. Last year we had unprecedented numbers," said Stuart Hine, of the National History Museum. "We are about to start the spider season -- when females are at their largest and when the males look for mates -- so we could see more."
The spiders, which bite but aren't poisonous, were discovered on Britain's south coast in 1922, when the climate for the region was just barely warm enough to sustain them. Many conservationists say the northward migration of the spiders is a consequence of the warming climate, The Daily Mail said.
"They are a prickly, spiny spider so if you pick one up it can feel like you have been bitten," Hine said. "But they are harmless."
