What Kind of Worm Has a Shovel-Shaped Head?
You may be wondering what kind of worm has a shovel-shaped head. The short answer is a garden invasive predatory rotifer, a species of land planarian worm native to Asia. This worm has a strange-looking head, and it can grow to more than a foot long. Its brain produces neurotoxin that helps subdue its prey. According to Murphy, who has studied shovel-head wrigglers, climate change could be a factor in their spread.
The Shovel-headed Garden Worm has a flattened body and a mushroom-shaped head. Its dorsal surface is covered with five longitudinal brown stripes, a patch of black around the neck, and is light ochre-yellow on its upper side. The body of this worm is grey-white or light ochre-yellow. The Shovel-headed Garden-Worm lives for several weeks and shrinks in size between feedings.
Unlike ordinary nightcrawlers, Shovel-headed garden worms are carnivorous. They detect their prey by smelling its scent with their chemical receptors and swivel their heads in the direction of prey. Once they find a meal, the worms encase their prey in a thin layer of slimy mucus and digest it into small bits. The shovel-headed Garden Worm can live for weeks without consuming anything, and its shrunken body allows it to survive between feedings.
Bipalium kewense is a terrestrial flatworm with a half-moon-shaped head. Its body is honey-colored and has five longitudinal dark brown stripes. The body is a soft snake-like shape with closely spaced hairs. Despite its small size, the Shovel-headed Garden Worm is one of the biggest garden weeds in the world and is a very common pest in North America.
Its semicircular head is characteristic of the Shovel-headed Garden Worm. The species is found in the United States and tropical regions. The species is confined to dark, moist areas. These worms are often observed on the soil surface after a rainstorm. When they’re fully grown, the garden weeds can be as long as 12 inches. This weeds are commonly known as “plate-headed” aphids.
The Shovel-headed Garden Worm is a species of terrestrial flatworms. Its name is derived from its scientific name, which means “plate-headed worm from Kew”. It was discovered in the hothouses of the Kew Gardens in 1878 and was described formally in 1879. It is a free-living, omnivorous nematode that is a native of many countries.
If you’re wondering what kind of worm has a shovel-shaped head, you may be wondering about the origin of this parasite. While invasive, it is native to Southeast Asia and has been present in the U.S. since the 1930s. Its preferred habitats are damp, cool, and humid, which make them a perfect home for hammerhead worms.
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