http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/n...553671,00.html

I am so freaking out right now

HELLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPP i am also freaking out.......

Ok now I'm freaked... I hate spiders and can handle the usual tiny little spiders we find here but now....

Somebody notify the SVP!

Which part of the SVP??

Need to find someone to call when spider invasion reaches my home... Anyone volunteers?

Sorry hun, No chance.....i need someone too and my bloke is also scared of spiders so that's us totaly F****d......

Spider Vanishing Party, of course...

Holy sh*t those things are nasty!!!

Ah i can't get the shivers to stop now!!!

I am not even going to think about clicking on that link...is it the same picture that was in 20minuten this morning? That was bad enough, nearly spilled my coffee...

Don't think I will be venturing down to the cellar on my own anytime soon...

can anyone give a short translated overview of the article and what type of spiders they are - are they poisonous etc...?

Not much of a spider fan either..... been happy living in a top floor apartment and not experiencing huge spiders every day like back in the UK

Ok, i HATE spiders! What is the newspaper clipping actually saying about them?? Someone please translate for me so that i can panic even more

Then you did not see my thread from last year when my son was bitten by a posionous spider that was 2mm big, he ended up in hospital, and was in a serious condition, now that was a sacrey little spider

And sod the noise rules here. If I see one of those mo fo's I'm screaming the place down regardless of time or what day of the week it is

brrrrr, just reading this thread is making me feel very uncomfortable...

Please people, don't post pictures directly onto the thread, just post a link!

I second that!!!

Rough translation of what I managed to read before freaking out:

20cm big (most of it being legs), black spiders are invading Switzerland, Germany and Austria. They are usually in large groups and are found in basements and the usual hidey holes for spiders. They are not poisonous.

That's all I could manage....sorry

According to the article, they are not poisonous, but they group together to form a large 'ball-like' structure to attack prey or to defend themselves. They move forward by 'rocking' their bodies, however they are not capabale of leaping in formation. In general, they are harmless to humans as they prey on small insects. What is so astonishing is that in Germany a hobby photographer found over 460 individual specimens at a ruin site. It is thought that they came to Germany via a freight/cargo ship, and one quoted scientist said it would be enough to form a population if a cocoon/pregnant female was transported, as they can hold up to 500+ eggs. They have also been spotted in Holland and Nothern Switzerland, and no one knows where they originate or what their natural predators are.

Truly a biological rarity in Europe, and baffling to the scientific world as no one can figure out where they came from and how they will spread. It is also not yet certain if they are true 'spiders' or just belonging to the Class Arachnae (like mites, scorpions, and spiders).

I kind of like spiders and find them to be fascinating creatures So long as they're not poisonous!

God it sounds like a bloody hitchcock movie....this is very disturbing.

I was supposed to do my laundry tonight but not a chance now.

Just think of them as a pimped-up version of a Daddy Long legs

Well then Pinki, you get to deal with mine, becasue I don't like them.

So there.

C

It really does sound like some tacky horror movie... if the club together like that it is only a matter of time before they move on to bigger prey... (cue scary music)