Are these flat worms actually from NEwZealand? Perhaps they have had them for Quite a few years. Does anyone know what the effects are after all this time and what do they turn to eat when the earthworms are depleted.
I discovered them in my beloved garden in Plymouth. They were even in my wormery. Gutted. I search and destroy them and have noticed a decrease in numbers. Mine have a silver stripe down them and are not particularly flat either. I googled them and there are many different types. Some of the ones i find are very black and glossy looking.
Apparently there are several native flat worm species in the uk and many other species from other parts of the world which have hitched a ride over here too. The new Zealand flat worm is the most dangerous to our earth worms as native flat worms mainly feed on dead slugs and worms.
In 25 years have never seen any flatworms in my mid-Cornwall garden until this spring. Have now found about 8 under a slab temporarily on the lawn, and a couple more under a large plant pot in another area of the garden. They're the orangy coloured Australian type, not the darker NZ flatworms. Have squashed all I see.
I was alerted to the possiblility of flatworm invasion by finding quite a number of dead or dying and damaged earthworms on my garden paths this spring, with birds uninterested in them. I vaguely remembered hearing about threat to earthworms from non-native flatworms so looked it up.
Could we have an item on Gardeners World to publicise this problem so we can all be alert for this pest and destroy them whenever possible. So far I have plenty of earthworms but I'm now worried as I don't know the extent of the flatworm population in my garden.
Posts
Are these flat worms actually from NEwZealand? Perhaps they have had them for Quite a few years. Does anyone know what the effects are after all this time and what do they turn to eat when the earthworms are depleted.
I discovered them in my beloved garden in Plymouth. They were even in my wormery. Gutted. I search and destroy them and have noticed a decrease in numbers. Mine have a silver stripe down them and are not particularly flat either. I googled them and there are many different types. Some of the ones i find are very black and glossy looking.
Apparently there are several native flat worm species in the uk and many other species from other parts of the world which have hitched a ride over here too. The new Zealand flat worm is the most dangerous to our earth worms as native flat worms mainly feed on dead slugs and worms.
March 2017
In 25 years have never seen any flatworms in my mid-Cornwall garden until this spring. Have now found about 8 under a slab temporarily on the lawn, and a couple more under a large plant pot in another area of the garden. They're the orangy coloured Australian type, not the darker NZ flatworms. Have squashed all I see.
I was alerted to the possiblility of flatworm invasion by finding quite a number of dead or dying and damaged earthworms on my garden paths this spring, with birds uninterested in them. I vaguely remembered hearing about threat to earthworms from non-native flatworms so looked it up.
Could we have an item on Gardeners World to publicise this problem so we can all be alert for this pest and destroy them whenever possible. So far I have plenty of earthworms but I'm now worried as I don't know the extent of the flatworm population in my garden.