Does The UK Have Tarantulas? An Expert Says 'Yes'

Last year, the RSPB joyfully announced it had been successful in bringing huge, fish-eating fen raft spiders back from the brink of extinction (apparently on purpose).

The rat-sized arachnids are crucial for delicate marsh and wetlands ecosystems, it seems.

But per wildlife researcher Adele Brand, it turns out we’ve also had tarantulas in the UK the whole time, too.

It’s just that our one species belonging to the ‘tarantula’ family – a broad term that refers to multiple large, hairy spiders – hides in a sock-like home.

Wait, are there tarantulas in the UK?

Brand told Countryfile that we have one species that belongs to the order that tarantulas are in: the purseweb spider (Atypus affinis). She called it “Britain’s only tarantula .”

They live exceptionally long for a spider –