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Giant Predatory Worms Quietly Invaded France, And Biologists Are Shocked
Quartz ^ | 05/23/2018 | BEN GUARINO,

Posted on 05/22/2018 7:39:35 PM PDT by BenLurkin

Hammerhead flatworms, which grow to a foot or more in length, do not belong in European vegetable gardens.

"We do not have that in France," said Justine, a professor at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.

The predatory worms are native to Asia, where they happily gobble up earthworms under a warmer sun.

The gardener who took the first photo, an amateur naturalist named Pierre Gros, emailed Justine a second picture a week later. It was of a completely different species of giant worm.

"The species are cryptic and soil-dwelling so can be easily overlooked, which often explains their inadvertent shipment round the world," said entomologist Archie Murchie of Britain's Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, who was not involved with the study.

Worms like these are spreading and will continue to spread, he warned, especially "with increased global trade."

Biologists knew that smaller worms, which eat escargot snails, had made their way to France. But until recently, Justine, an expert in parasites and worms called nematodes, had no idea France was under a hammerhead invasion.

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencealert.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: flatworms; hammerheadflatworms
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To: Osage Orange

I have not seen one this spring in all my digging. Seven miles away where I work, there are plenty.
= = = = = = = = = = =

Being of the ‘suspicious’ sort and a little cynical, I feel there may be a link to the transformation of the critters from YOUR spread to YOUR work?

Just sayin....


21 posted on 05/22/2018 8:06:03 PM PDT by xrmusn ((6/98)""Liberals suffer from PTDS -PRESIDENT TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME")
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To: xrmusn
You are not quoting me....? You might want to check.

Just saying.....

22 posted on 05/22/2018 8:12:24 PM PDT by Osage Orange (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot)
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To: Fungi

Is there any kind of creature which eats this flatworm to keep it in check? The way the article reads, it appears to be “thriving” in a country like France …


23 posted on 05/22/2018 8:13:56 PM PDT by Ken522 (e)
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To: kaehurowing

24 posted on 05/22/2018 8:19:40 PM PDT by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: cork

Bait!?

This is France we’re talking about. By next week it will be on the menu at all the 5 Star restaurants!


25 posted on 05/22/2018 8:20:58 PM PDT by 21twelve
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To: BenLurkin

The French should bake them up with a buttery herb sauce and serve them like escargot.


26 posted on 05/22/2018 8:21:29 PM PDT by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: BenLurkin
Here's a flat head:


27 posted on 05/22/2018 8:31:14 PM PDT by Slyfox (Not my circus, not my monkeys)
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To: miliantnutcase

;-)


28 posted on 05/22/2018 8:32:16 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo (MAGA/KAG!!!)
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To: xrmusn

my yard is full of them. if any end up on pavement from rains i try to save them from drying out.


29 posted on 05/22/2018 8:33:46 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man ( Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: dirtboy
A colleague once tried to put a flatworm in his mouth, Justine recounted.

WTF? Whatever would possess someone to do this?!

30 posted on 05/22/2018 8:46:58 PM PDT by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel.)
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To: BenLurkin

Giant Predatory Worm....aka Former Director Comey.


31 posted on 05/22/2018 8:51:38 PM PDT by SERKIT ("Blazing Saddles" explains it all.......)
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To: BenLurkin

Mongolian death worms


32 posted on 05/22/2018 8:55:13 PM PDT by Bob434
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To: Rummyfan

future Darwin winner


33 posted on 05/22/2018 9:08:07 PM PDT by Nailbiter
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To: Ken522

#23. Re “Is there any kind of creature which eats this flatworm...”?

Yes. Hollywood, the entertainment industry, and politics are full of them.

Let’s see. Michael Moore; Rosie O’Donnell; Amy Schumer; Chelsea Handler; Stephen Colbert (He looks like one); Chris Matthews; Chris Cuomo and his brother (both bloodsucking idiots); Maxine Waters (a subspecies all on her own); Al Green (D-TX, NM, Outerspace); Elijah Cummings (D-Md); Sheila Jackson Lee, subspecies Cowgirlwormiss flatulentitis; Joy Behar (another undetermined subhuman species); Schumer,subspecies (NY Bullcrapis mangerer); and Nancy Pelosi, the Italian subspecies import, Flatheaded Gardenesis Flukeface.


34 posted on 05/22/2018 9:25:08 PM PDT by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
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To: SERKIT

#31. Giant Predatory Worm - Comey. I thought it was “Adam Schiff”. If there was ever a flatworm/flatheaded creature, it is ShitforBrains. A real dung-eater, I’m told.


35 posted on 05/22/2018 9:26:58 PM PDT by MadMax, the Grinning Reaper
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To: aMorePerfectUnion

It looks like a Bipalium Platyhelmenthes. They are all over the humid and forested areas of Tokyo during the middle of summer. I love watching these things, especially when I can find an earthworm to feed to them. I’ve seen them up to 1.5 meters long. They are creepy as heck, but I love to study them.


36 posted on 05/22/2018 9:27:32 PM PDT by lefty-lie-spy (Stay metal. For the Horde \m/("_")\m/ - via iPhone from Tokyo.)
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To: BenLurkin

The veil is not “Islamic” firstly. Secondly, it’s for women, not for blokes. Thirdly, this “priest” is an idiot.


37 posted on 05/22/2018 9:57:46 PM PDT by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: Cronos

Hmmmmmm…..


38 posted on 05/22/2018 10:05:36 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: bgill

39 posted on 05/22/2018 10:21:57 PM PDT by Bratch ("The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke)
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To: BenLurkin

Ah, any culture that will eat a snail will find a way to prepare a worm that big.


40 posted on 05/22/2018 10:22:09 PM PDT by doorgunner69 (Give me the liberty to take care of my own security..........)
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