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New report predicts a heavy toll from Nigeria to the US – and comes on top of existing impacts of the climate crisis

She is an unlikely harbinger of the climate emergency: a venomous black and yellow spider who spins mysterious patterns in her webs and eats her mates for breakfast. Native to mainland Europe, north Africa and Asia, the Argiope bruennichi – commonly known as a wasp spider – is rarely seen in the north and west of Britain. But a fully grown female has been spotted in Cheshire for the first time by conservationists from Chester zoo, who stumbled across the large, brightly striped arachnid in a rewilded field. The species, which mimics a wasp to deter predators, is thought to be the latest “climate refugee” extending its range northwards as the planet heats. Females can grow to about 2cm in body length, making it one of the largest spiders found in the UK. “You know your big, chunky house spiders – the ones you think are massive and frighten the life out of you in your living room? A female wasp spider is probably a bit bigger than those,” said Scott Wilson, head of field programmes at the zoo. Although they are not dangerous to humans, they often attack and cannibalise their mates during or after copulation. Males usually reach...

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