Giant invasive worms wreak havoc in France
Ease of travel has shrunk the planet, reducing once vast distances to a few hours’ worth of air travel. That has not been an entirely good thing.
It’s now not only humans that can now travel from one end of the globe to another with ease but a variety of species large and small as well. Some of those travelling species can wreak great havoc when implanted in the soil of a new land by unsettling local ecosystems. Literally implanted in certain case like that of giant predatory flatworms that have invaded France’s soil.
The invaders, which are native to Japan, are giant hammerhead flatworms (Diversibipalium multilineatum), so named for their passing resemblance to hammerhead sharks, and have been infiltrating French ecosystems where they prey on small creatures that dwell in local soil like earthworms. The invasive worms can reach up to 40 centimeters in length and come in a variety of subspecies.
According to a new study by French scientists, the flatworms have been in France for two decades and may have arrived in the soil used for international shipments of plants from tropical parts of Asia. The researchers have identified five non-native species of hammerhead flatworms in mainland France as well as in overseas French territories such as French Polynesia and French Guyana. To make matters worse, the worms can reproduce asexually and can survive being cut into pieces so they can quickly gain a foothold (figuratively speaking) whenever they land.
Invasive stink bugs (Halyomorpha halys), from China, and Asian hornets have likewise been running rampant in France and other parts of continental Europe, taking a toll on several local species. Across the Channel in the UK, meanwhile, invasive toxic caterpillars have been causing health scares.
No part of the planet is immune to such invasions. In tropical Thailand, for instance, foreign species like New Guinea flatworms, South American apple snails and Amazonian water hyacinths have been causes for concern among local environmentalists. The price of invasive species can be great, both ecologically and financially for the nations of the world and there’s often little we can do to arrest the spread of invasive species.
