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Disgusting, toxic, foot-long hammerhead flatworms are invading Texas and they are almost impossible to kill because they regenerate if cut in half.
That’s right. It turns out that all flatworms have the ability to become two different, genetically identical flatworms if they are cut in half, according to Popular Mechanics.
These invasive hammerhead flatworms have been appearing on driveways, patios and sidewalks thanks to their underground homes being flooded by Hurricane Beryl and other storms that have been battering Southeast Texas this year.
The Texas Invasive Species Institute (TISI) says these hammerhead flatworms’ “snake-like” bodies can grow to be up to 15 inches long.
What makes them especially troublesome is that they are a “known predator of earthworms that are necessary for the health of our forests, crops, gardens and compost piles.”
TISI explains these hammerhead flatworms “secrete chemicals through their skin to make themselves noxious to predators, and aid in the digestion of earthworms. These chemicals can cause skin irritation on humans if they hold the flatworm, and domestic mammals if they consume the flatworm. Furthermore, many flatworms can carry parasitic nematodes within them.”
Because of their ability to regenerate if cut in half, the Institute suggests, “If you see one, be sure to dispose of the whole creature.” They even suggest putting it in a sealed plastic bag before throwing it away.
The Houston Chronicle reports that they “can be killed using a combination of citrus oil, salt and vinegar directly on the worm.” One would assume a blowtorch might work as well. Or dynamite.
The TISI recommends washing your hands in warm water with soap then using hand sanitizer after handling one of these worms.
“The likelihood of hammerhead worms harming people or animals is low and would require getting the mucus in the mouth or eyes,” entomologist Theresa Dellinger of Virginia Tech explained last year.
Hammerhead flatworms supposedly originated in Southeast Asia and were brought here with horticultural plants around the beginning of the 20th century. Where they came from before that, the TISI doesn’t say, but one can certainly speculate.