![]() ![]() Hammerhead worms use a powerful neurotoxin (tetrodotoxin) to paralyze their prey. They are frequently mistaken for snakes or slugs but are not actually related. These creatures prefer damp areas and are light-sensitive so they typically feed at night.Īs they move, they secrete a dense mucus. The good news about hammerhead worms is that you don’t usually need to worry about them unless you live in a place that is subtropical or tropical -they need high temperatures and high humidity. They’re also found in just about every other corner of the world. These creatures are considered harmful in most gardens because they feed so voraciously on earthworms.Īs any gardener knows, earthworms are necessary to aerate and fertilize the soil – you absolutely need them if you’re going to grow a healthy garden.Ĭonsidered an invasive species, these pests are native to Southeast Asia but have been found in most parts of the US since the 1980s. They move around like slugs, producing a slime trail as they do. They also have elongated, flat bodies that can be as long as more than a foot. Hammerhead worms are named for their distinctive heads, which are shaped like spades. Lovely.Ī hammerhead worm can survive for several weeks on food reserves in its digestive tract – and if food is still scarce, it will actually cannibalize its own tissues for food. ![]() Then, the worm secretes digestive enzymes and sucks the liquefied tissue into its digestive tract with its cilia. Once they find the earthworm’s body, they press it against a surface and entangle it in slimy secretions of toxins, immobilizing it. They detect their prey with chemoreceptors located just below the head. Hammerhead worms are known by a variety of different names, including hammerhead flatworms, arrowhead flatworms, and broadhead planarian (which is technically a larger category of flathead worms of which hammerheads are only one member).Īlso known as “toxic terrestrial flatworms” these pests are carnivorous creatures that play on all kinds of other insects, like earthworms, insect larvae, snails, slugs, and even other hammerhead worms (that’s right – they’re cannibals). ![]()
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