Alien Spiders Invade Europe

No word yet on whether they have frickin' lasers attached to their heads.

Swiss researchers are warning that greater numbers of spiders are making their way to Europe - an idea likely to strike fear into the hearts of arachnophobes.

The scientists say that over the past 150 years the expansion in global trade has led to more alien spiders, bigger than domestic species, being inadvertently imported.

A huge, furry monster goosesteps across the screen. It has eight legs and you just know it's going to eat everything in sight. It is, of course, that 1975 classic, The Giant Spider Invasion.

In the real world, it's not quite as scary, but that doesn't mean there isn't an invasion going on. It is more like a slow process that has been taking place for over a century.

According to zoology professor Wolfgang Nentwig and his colleagues at Bern University, 87 foreign spider species have made their way to Europe over the past 150 years.