New Zealand flatworm

Absolutely a major threat to the Irish ecosystems it can not be controlled once it is in an area.  All that can really be done is to prevent further spread by inspecting plants that are being moved in order to see that the egg capsules or worms are not present. 

I think a lot of the Irish garden centres are riddled with them.
I got a present of a potted plant around 2 years ago, and left it on a concrete slab for a few days. When I got around to planting it, I picked up the pot and there was a big thick NZ flatworm underneath it. Chopped him up into tiny pieces, and fed them to the goldfish, just to make sure the pieces didn't grow back into numerous mini flatworms. I've not seen any since, so I think I got him in time.

The garden centres have a lot to answer for though, spreading these things around. Who knows what will happen to the earthworms they prey on. I'd imagine the flatworms will spread all over the country eventually, and the density of earthworms will reduce as a result, with a consequent small reduction in productivity of the land.

I don't think they have any specific nematode nemesis.

The problem with garden centres is that once they become home to these critters, they allow the flatworms to travel from pot to pot, so even if "clean" plants arrive in, they are likely to pick up the flatworms before long. The garden centre then becomes an infection and distribution centre for flatworms.
Apparently they like a cool moist climate, so Ireland is perfect for them. Potted plants arriving from say, Holland, are more likely to get infected after they arrive in this country.

The ducks would of course be tucked up asleep even if the flatworms did appear on the surface at night.
But yes, sad that in this case, the flatworms seem to have had a very measurable effect on the earthworm population.

Day Lewin wrote: »

What about hedgehogs? Can an Irish gráinneog eat New Zealand flatworms? They are nocturnal...foxes eat worms too, which they catch on rainy nights. And Badgers do also. Blackbirds and robins like worms as well I believe?

If they ever come near my garden I'm prepared to launch an all-out strike against them. Trap, catch and slaughter.

They are unpalatable to many animals and secret an enzyme that makes eating them difficult. And when they come to the surface they do so mostly under objects thrasher than in the open.

DX85 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Yes, a lot in it. A couple of interesting things I picked up on...
They are incredibly efficient eaters, with food conversion efficiency of up to 53% and the ability to go for a year without food.
But very intolerant of heat and dry conditions.
This looks like a useful trick to sanitise pots from a garden centre;

Hot-water treatment could be used to kill A. triangulatus in plant containers (Blackshaw, 1996). Immersion of A. triangulatus in water at 30°C for 20 minutes, killed adults within 24 h. A slightly higher temperature of 34°C and a lower exposure time of 5 minutes resulted in mortality within 1 h

I don't think 30 - 35 C would harm the plant, would it?

New Home wrote: »

A few very hot months later... I was wondering if anyone had noticed any difference in the numbers of flatworms they've encountered recently (purely to satisfy my own curiosity).

Now that you raise it, I neither saw any nor heard of any this summer so far.