Hey ya’ll
Found this little guy the other day digging potatoes – it’s a hammerhead flatworm.
I’m a produce grower in the far Northwest corner of Illinois. We’ve got pretty clay-heavy soils here, and I rely a lot on constant organic matter and the earthworms it brings to keep my garden soil friable enough to work well.
In all my years working our place, I’ve never seen one of these. I heard a few years ago they can predate on earthworms like crazy, and thinking about it now I have a sense our population on the place is going down — I see less when I till or dig.
Just curious what experience/knowledge people have to share about these worms, and if there’s anything that can be done.
Thanks!
by concretecut
3 Comments
Following because I’ve just found enough to warn my kids not to mess with them. Im in 9b though.
Hey so… don’t ever handle those with your hands. Ever. Gloves or a shovel. They need to be dumped in salt to kill. If you have a lot of them, you need to call your local cooperative extension. They are invasive and eating all of the worms they can find.
In Jr. High, we disected planaria. This was in the 70s. Any relationship and did we help disseminate these?