CLOSED: Yuk .....what is this ?

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fleurone Brooksville, FL(Zone 9a) Jul 27, 2008

Climbing up the wall after power washing the pool deck and drainage areas.

Thumbnail by fleurone
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suunto Sinks Grove, WV Jul 27, 2008

This is a terrestrial flatworm (planarian) such as Bipalium kewense - see http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/land_planarians.htm
They are voracious predators on other invertebrates, including earthworms.

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fleurone Brooksville, FL(Zone 9a) Jul 27, 2008

Thank you suunto , interesting link. I did squish it and just as well we definitely need the earthworms.

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ceejaytown The Woodlands, TX(Zone 9a) Jul 27, 2008

I hope you disposed of all the squishees. Planarians can regenerate from very small parts. The first time I saw one here, I thought it was a two headed earthworm. It had entered the earthworm through an opening and was sucking out its insides. I drop them in alcohol.

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fleurone Brooksville, FL(Zone 9a) Jul 27, 2008

ceejaytown....mmmm hopefully I sort of flattened it with my shoe and twisted my foot the same time. Dang I will have to look at the wall tommorow and see if it went anywhere.
What a gross thing it is.
I have some more power washing to do and now am wondering if there are more in the drainage run off/duct things, wonder if bleach kills them ?

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ceejaytown The Woodlands, TX(Zone 9a) Jul 27, 2008

I found some in my french drains...Lifted up the cover and there it/they were. I would think bleach would kill them. I try not to put anything toxic into my drains because toads and frogs sometimes get into them.

And you are right!! Tremendously gross!!

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DATURA12 Fort Worth, TX(Zone 8a) Aug 03, 2008

The first time I saw one was when I brought one home in a nursery pot. It had a head like a hammerhead shark. I did some research and found they will kill your earthworms. I thought I got rid of it but found another this year....I guess I didn't kill all of it..good to know.

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alfu Gainesville, FL Jun 29, 2010

Very nice foto of Bipalium vagum. Unlike Bipalium kewense and B. adventitium, it is considered to prefer slugs and snails to earthworms as prey, so maybe from a gardener's perspective, this is one of the 'good guys'.

Next time you want to dispose of a land planarian, simply drop it into your refuse bin. Unlike most other animals, they seek to escape by going down, not up, so they stay in the bottom until they dry out.

Strangely, although these worms are fiercely competitive and procreative in the wild, they do poorly when captive, and generally die within a few days even if allowed access to moisture in a jar.


This message was edited Jun 29, 2010 11:55 AM

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