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Flatworms?
Green Magpie
Posts: 806
I recently noticed a couple of little flatworms on the side of my green compost bin, and found another one in a flower bed today. I have heard of New Zealnd flatworms, but they seem to be quite large, while the ones I've seen were tiny, only 2 or 3 cm long. Then again, I don't suppose they're born large, they must all start out small...
Does anyone know what these little worms can be? Should I be worried?
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Can you get a photo GM?
In the sticks near Peterborough
'Fraid not, I squashed or chopped up the ones I found! Never thought to photgraph them first.
GM, I have read that if you put a sheet of non-clear polythene (eg an old compost bag) on the ground and weighed down by stones, NZ flatworms will congregate underneath it. If you want to photograph them to get a positive ID then you could try that - best to be sure as you don't want to be killing any of the good guys.
I've heard of , and read about, flatworms, but have never come across them : thankfully.
They prefer cooler areas, Verdun, so unlikely down your way. They're not notifiable as far as I'm aware, but DEFRA are collecting info:
http://flatworm.fera.defra.gov.uk/
Looking at the DEFRA site, I'm not at all sure that the ones I saw are the NZ ones. I'm in Devon, where there were none recorded on their map (2006, though). The pictures all show large worms, whereas the ones I saw were tiny - but flat in cross-section. I wonder if they could be something else?