A few days ago, a local post began circulating across the socials: The dreaded hammerhead worm was found in Centralia!
The post contained some gross photos of the squishy little creatures…
Let’s first start that we can not independently corroborate the fact that hammerhead worms are appearing in Centralia.. although it would sure be an interesting location for the creatures to be slithery monster to be formulating their future invasion of the state. Perhaps the soil rich in nutrients from a burning mine fire with carbon monoxide will give them power to walk on two legs.
All joking aside, they are ugly and they are also somewhat dangerous..
Before you run off the duct tape your windows, let’s delve into the mud on hammerheads and figure out exactly what we should and should not be worried about..
Turns out, there are more worries than not..
THE WEAK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH. ALONG WITH HAMMERHEADS
Perhaps one of the most important thing to remember about hammerhead worms is that when you cut them they regenerate into more than one worm. Seriously. It is like horror movie material, right? Or the concept of the next STRANGER THINGS on Netflix..
Either way, it’s true..
Along with their terrifying ability to multiply, they are also pretty bad for the species that has become our best friend: The good old fashioned slimy earth worm.
Other states have been watching hammerheads, too. Places like Missouri. Florida. Alabama. Ohio. Other states.. and yes, Pennsylvania. It seems experts have figured out what they do, but not really how to stop them.
WORMS OF PREY
Some more facts based on a week of research and Youtube viewing: Hammerheads are a member of a family of flatworms called land planarians. The nickname hammerhead is obviously after you check out a close up of their shape..
They like cool dark and moist areas.. they move and feed at night.
They feed on earthworms.. they conquer the long respected guardians of our grounds.. Along with eating the friendly earthworm, hammerheads leave a trail of mucus and excrement that helps it glide.. Isn’t that quaint?
Once it establishes itself, it seems it will not go away .. It produces sexually by laying eggs and asexually by fragmenting and growing new heads and tails when cut into pieces..
And get this: It can be only a few inches long to SEVERAL inches long.. Some sites across the vast Internet(s) say that they can be as long as a foot or more and often appear to be almost snakelike in their appearance.
Some say that 93 degree soil can eradicate them. But what is known is that freezing temps will not kill them.
Grossed out yet?
HAMMERHEADS BULLSEYE BUCKEYE
Before the Centralia post got blasted on Facebook to the masses, an earlier news snippet in May caused concern in our neighbors to the West in Ohio.
The Ohio State University Extension warned on Facebook:
Trumbull County found this invasive hammerhead worm in their lawn last week. If you happen to find one of these worms that eat our native earthworms, it is best to kill them with salt or rubbing alcohol. DO NOT CUT THEM. Hammerhead worms can reproduce asexually, so that means if you try to kill it by cutting it in half you will now have two hammerhead worms. It has been reported that some people are sensitive to the mucus they secrete, so it is advised not to handle them without gloves
Now we know how to kill them. It seems to take a while–and quite frankly will take some bravery from the handler to pick up a potentially foot long mucus and fecally-charged asexual night stalker.
WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS?
Beyond the creep factor and their murderous rampage of earth worms, what are some other reasons we don’t like these?
It may depend. Researchers say that some of their species are worse than others.
New Guinea flatworms have directly caused the extinction of many snail species on various islands in the Pacific. Beyond that hammerheads that in theory take away the earth worm from soil–and earth worms have been good for soil.
There is a silver lining: Penn State University says that species that are native to our region apparently often require forested settings and many are found under logs or the bark of fallen logs, so can’t survive in lawns, gardens, and other highly disturbed areas.
They go on to report in research,
Indeed, a recent study found that the earthworm fauna of Baltimore, Maryland is similar to that of Budapest, Hungary and lacked species native to North America entirely. Even in “undisturbed” areas, such as 100-year-old secondary forests, non-native earthworms may predominate or completely exclude native earthworms, depending on how extensively the area was logged and/or farmed when the primary forest was removed initially.
But… they conclude that the impact on Pennsylvania and surrounding areas are difficult to assess.. More from PSU:
In urban and suburban areas, they are feeding exclusively (or nearly exclusively) on non-native earthworms that shouldn’t be here to begin with. In disturbed areas where invasive jumping worms (Amynathis spp.) have been introduced, which are often considered worse for gardens and planting areas because they degrade the soil, land planarians may even be considered to be beneficial biocontrol agents. Terrestrial flatworms do not seem to have invaded less disturbed habitats in North America, but even such places there are many areas where introduced, non-native earthworms predominate. It’s not clear if planarians will preferentially feed on native or non-native earthworms where they do co-occur, so difficult to know the impact terrestrial flatworms will have on native earthworms.
WHERE DID THEY SLITHER FROM?
To the best of our knowledge from research they are native to Southeast Asia.. They have been actively spreading in the United States since the 1980s and have also become invasive throughout the planet.. According to one rumor, they were brought to the United States with horticultural plants at some point in the early 1900s.. One rumor states they were reported as being so plentiful in New Orleans that they were used as demonstration material in zoology classes
THEY ARE HERE. NOW WHAT?
The first thing we hope happens is more studying.. and more information as to WHAT will happen.. The disappointing thing is that some of the same press release materials and statement being found in Ohio and Pennsylvania news publications were the same repeated statements from press releases in 2008! That’s right.. very little NEW information has been produced about hammerheads.
What worries gardeners and friends of the Planet Earth itself is what we don’t know: How damaging will they be to the soil? What richness will they take away..
We have become pretty close to our earth worm friends through our lives.. they are in the dirt we play in as kids and are there when we go to our repose just as meet our maker at the end of existence. But hammerheads are now invading.. threatening the soil and the basic way of life of the earth worm.
And the worst of all: The famous desert DIRT with GUMMY WORMS will never be the same again…
