Like many non-native organisms, they don’t seem to have many predators here. A portion of the rear of the worm breaks off and grows a new head, producing a new flatworm genetically identical to its parent, a literal “chip off the old block.” They also reproduce sexually, but this is less common. This may be an effect of unusually cold winters.įlatworms reproduce asexually. Often populations of flatworms will disappear from a landscape after having been observed there for several consecutive years. This, and the fact that they just don’t seem to be that common, is why they are so rarely encountered. Like slugs, they are primarily active at night, or on moist, cloudy days, spending their days hiding in some dark, secluded space. Here in Mississippi, they are rarely very numerous, and they fare best in greenhouses or in the warmer, more southern portions of the state. So far, there have been no indications of flatworms having any major adverse effects on earthworm populations in the US. shovelhead worms or arrowhead worms, are predators of earthworms and slugs which they track down, disable by covering them with slime, and consume by everting their “mouth” over part of the earthworm’s body and digesting it. These are not native to the US, but they have been here more than a century and are spottily distributed around the warmer portions of the country, primarily because they are readily transported in potted plants where they can fit into spaces between the inner walls of the pot and the soil. There are other species of flatworms, but this one with the cobra-like head and the longitudinal stripes seems to be the most common here. Reaching up to a foot in length (that’s a 2 x 12 this one is resting on) land planaria or flatworms are striking, attention-getting creatures. It’s long like an earthworm, flat like a flounder, slimy like a slug, and has a head like a cobra! What is this and do we need to be concerned about it? It looks like it might be dangerous.” “We found this thing crawling across the patio.
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