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The Hammerhead Worm
- webnrrd2k 3y agoI remember finding one of those at our house in Orange County, California, in the mid-80's. I was a teen, and it really grossed me out. Apparently, They've been a problem for quite a while.
- nomel 3y agoI found one in Sacramento, California area, mid 2k. It's an impressive worm!
- CameronNemo 3y agoI found a couple in my (earth)worm bin a couple years ago (also in the OC). That might be a good way to bait them, actually.
- commondream 3y agoWe have these in our yard in SC.
- samstave 3y agoThe last thing I want in an article about HammerHead Worms is ads such as these on the page... https://i.imgur.com/QvMMfTV.png https://i.imgur.com/QvMMfTV.png
- selcuka 3y agoCome on, it's Texas Monthly.
- selcuka 3y ago> It's (sic) mouth is located in the underside of the middle of the body (not the head!). Eerie...
- smohare 3y ago[dead]
- hinkley 3y ago> tetrodotoxin Well that's a new wrinkle. Wonder what it does to birds.
- andrewflnr 3y agoYou'd think chopping it into several pieces would do it, even if just two doesn't. Or are they like sea stars where tiny bits of them can fully regenerate?
- f1shy 3y agoThere must be a limit. Like: Will it blend?
- bee_rider 3y agoThe ability of starfish to regenerate varies from species to species. I’m not sure that any have the ability to regenerate from a tiny bit (well, depends on the definition of tiny of course). Their mouths are in the center of their body, so if that part is destroyed anything that is going to regenerate will have to deal with the inability to eat while doing so, which is problematic!
- koliber 3y agoI don't know about this particular species, but some planaria can be split into more than one piece and regenerate. A record is over 60 from what I recall from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-9rLlFgcm0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-9rLlFgcm0
- deceptionatd 3y agoThe linked paper towards the end is pretty interesting: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ddi.13489 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ddi.13489 (open access) Figures 3 and 4 show the estimated increase in range through the 2070s with continuing climate change. It looks like these nice little neurotoxin-secreting worms will become more widespread, which sounds great.
- barbazoo 3y agoGreat
- chiph 3y agoI haven't seen any near me in the Carolinas. But I'm going to stock up on vinegar and salt just in case.
- forgetfreeman 3y agoThey've been in the Triangle area of NC for over a decade now. Can confirm that salt wears them out more or less instantly.
- clusterhacks 3y agoI found an 8-10 inch one in a wooded, non-garden area in a central NC backyard a couple years ago. Definitely here.
- jwx48 3y agoI've seen many on the campus of Elon University.
- the-mitr 3y agoI have seen one of these in predating action. It just got hold of a small snail and it was like a scene from a horror movie. It literally devoured that snail with a widening jaw in a few seconds with a very very vicious and relentless attack. Really stuff of nightmares.
- dendrite9 3y agoWBUR did an interesting show about hammerhead worms and other invasives. I'm glad there are people playing attention closely enough to notice such things. Lately I've been trying to learn the fungi and slime molds growing in various places around my yard. Maybe with time I'll be able to notice new species coming in. https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2023/01/27/wormwars https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2023/01/27/wormwars "When Endless Thread producer Nora Saks learns that a "toxic, self-cloning worm that poops out of its mouth is invading Maine", she starts sounding the alarm about the impending eco-doom. Until, that is, state experts clue her into the "real threat"; a different creepy crawly wriggling towards The Pine Tree State's gardens and precious forests, and fast. In an attempt to find out more about this real threat, co-hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Nora Saks tunnel down a wormhole, encountering a long history of xenophobic rhetoric about so-called invasive species, and some hard truths about the field of invasion biology itself. Eventually, they wind up at a community garden in Bangor, Maine, where the worm wars are playing out in real time."
- rexarex 3y ago‘Wormhole’ nice.
- ledauphin 3y agohonest question: does public awareness of their invasiveness have any chance of making a difference? does the salt-and-vinegar thing at all meaningfully reduce their population? i have trouble imagining it but would love to hear of evidence to the contrary.
- whyenot 3y agoNo and no. It is possible to stop invasive species, but it requires catching them before they have spread widely, or that they are restricted to a small area (like rats on Midway Atoll). Once an invasive species has spread widely, there is very little that can be done. You can extirpate them in a small area, but due to the characteristics that make them invasive, it’s virtually impossible to completely get rid of them.
- rexarex 3y agoThe province of Alberta in Canada is famously rat free. They stopped the spreading westward wave of rats in the 1950s and have maintained this status. https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/alberta-rat-free https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/alberta-rat-free https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/15/alberta-rat-catcher-phil-merill-canada-pest-free https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/15/alberta-rat-ca... https://www.alberta.ca/albertas-rat-control-program.aspx https://www.alberta.ca/albertas-rat-control-program.aspx
- akiselev 3y agoHammerhead BBQ time! This is Texas' answer to Japan's fugu fish cuisine!
- tomcam 3y agoThe animal life in Texas is quietly working on a long-term merger with Australia while you people stare impotently at screens all day, agonizing over trivia such as Emacs vs neovim (obvious answer: neovim, but I digress). Action must be taken.
- melony 3y agoIndeed, what is Spanish for Aux armes, ingénieurs en développement logiciel?
- tomcam 3y agome gusta neovim
- nntwozz 3y agoI think humanity as a whole can only really start focusing on the real problems once we settle on the Emacs vs neovim debate. It's all about setting the right priorities, right?
- photochemsyn 3y agoThese things hitchhike in soil (flowerpots etc.). Soil solarization strategies might help, from the simplest (placing black plastic sheeting over recently turned-over soil on hot days) to building a black-plastic lined box with a clear plexiglass cover for smaller volumes. There are a lot of how-to YT videos etc.
- osigurdson 3y agoAhhhh- so much to fear. What’s next, a sharknado perhaps?
- praptak 3y agoAt least it's not a computer worm that takes advantage of a freshly discovered Hammerhead vulnerability.
- tenderfault 3y ago"zip the bag and throw it away" may not be the best advice for killing said entity.
- WesolyKubeczek 3y agoAlso: all the plastic pollution.
- mnemotronic 3y agoMaybe the vinegaroons (https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/do-not-fear-the-land-lobster-from-hell-skittering-across-west-texas/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/do-not-fear-the-land-lob...) can go after the hammerheads.
- thunderbird120 3y agoFun fact, most earthworms in North America are invasive. In entire large regions of the country in which we think of earthworms as being common, they mostly didn't exist until European colonization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_earthworms_of_North_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_earthworms_of_North_A...
- tombert 3y agoI think it's a direct consequence of cats killing all the early birds. My understanding is that they were the ones who got the worm.
- totetsu 3y agoThese things are called pollution bugs in Japan. The first time I came across one I had no idea what it was. The way they move flapping their wing head is fascinating.
- friend_and_foe 3y agoInterestingly, theyre a threat because they eat earthworms, which are not native to north america and were imported from Europe. Other examples of nativized species like this are dandelions and trout.
- hoppla 3y ago<quote>When you spot one, put it in a Ziploc bag—while protecting your hand with a napkin or gloves—and add vinegar or salt.</quote> Why the need for protection? Does it bite?
- hellweaver666 3y agoIt excretes the same neurotoxin as puffer fish
- jb1991 3y agoThis is discussed in detail in the actual article.
- Dylanfm 3y agoWe have a similar invasive worm in Scotland and elsewhere in Europe: New Zealand Flatworm and Australian Flatworm. I've lost count of the number of NZ flatworms that I've killed in salty water over the past few months. I'm losing hope of removing them from our small market garden. There are far fewer earthworms in the patches the flatworm flourished before I found them. I am very interested how organic growers in NZ deal with them. If they're a problem in their native regions.
- DueDilligence 3y ago[dead]
- Borrible 3y agoNice, reminds me of the eating habits of some leeches. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fGGz6d3vC4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fGGz6d3vC4