Earthworms, as we know, are garden champions, cleaning the soil by eating their weight in organic matter every day and aerating it as they wriggle around, creating tunnels to ease root growth. They also improve soil moisture, remove fungal spores and stimulate microbial activity, which benefits plant health.
But there's another weird worm out there that's toxic, deadly to our beloved earthworms and nearly impossible to kill: Allow me to introduce you to the hammerhead worm.As its name would imply, the narrow, snakelike flatworm has a head built like that of a hammerhead shark. And it's hardly a newcomer, believed to have hitched a ride to the U.S. from Southeast Asia with a shipment of plants around 1900.
As carnivorous cannibals, the worms eat snails, slugs and each other , as well as earthworms, the loss of which would pose a catastrophic threat to farms and gardens.Hammerhead worms are hermaphroditic, so they reproduce without a mate. But that's not the only way they multiply: Their favorite party trick is detaching a portion of their rear ends and leaving them on plants, where, within 10 days -- presto, chango! – those little butts grow heads and become offspring.
(The Garden Variety) Pose Threat To Earthworms
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ambassador Endo Kazuya joins opening reception of ‘Yakishime-Earth Metamorphosis’ exhibitON July 3, 2024, Ambassador Endo Kazuya attended and delivered an insightful message at the opening reception of the Yakishime-Earth Metamorphosis, an exhibition organized by the Japan Foundation Manila, in cooperation with the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, in Bonifacio Global City.
Read more »
Spacecraft to swing by earth, moonDefining the News
Read more »
Miss Philippines Earth 2024 Irha Mel Alfeche highlights importance of planting trees after CarinaLatest Philippine news from GMA News and 24 Oras. News, weather updates and livestreaming on Philippine politics, regions, showbiz, lifestyle, science and tech.
Read more »
United Nations declares ‘extreme heat epidemic’ as Earth endures record-breaking temperaturesBy Seth Borenstein & Sibi Arasu | The Associated Press After three of Earth’s hottest days ever measured, the United Nations called for a flurry of efforts to try to reduce the human toll from soaring and searing temperatures, calling it “an extreme heat epidemic.
Read more »
IAU asks for potential names for Earth's quasi-moonLatest Philippine news from GMA News and 24 Oras. News, weather updates and livestreaming on Philippine politics, regions, showbiz, lifestyle, science and tech.
Read more »
Earth hit by 'severe' solar stormWASHINGTON — The Earth was hit Monday by an intense solar storm that could bring the northern lights to night skies further south than normal, a US agency said.
Read more »