Invaders from down under in threat to our earthworms

‘Check for worms under pots and logs’

THE invasive Australian flatworm, which can destroy fertile soil, has reached the Beara peninsula in west Cork, the National Biodiversity Centre has warned.

Sellers of plants have been told to warn the public of dangers of contaminated garden matter.

Flatworms are top-level predators of soil organisms. They eat earthworms and appear to have met no natural enemies of their own in Ireland. According to the centre, the implications of its indefinite spread for the drainage and fertility of our soil ‘pose a threat to Ireland’s biodiversity and economy’. Japanese knotweed and the zebra mussels are examples of invasive species now out of control in Ireland.

The centre urges gardeners to be vigilant when transplanting plants purchased from outlets, as contaminated garden matter is the primary source of the spread of the species.

While the New Zealand flatworm is now widespread across the island of Ireland, the Australian flatworm is much rarer.

It was found in the garden beside the offices of Friends of the Irish Environment, who are located at the end of the Beara peninsula near the village of Eyeries.

‘Regularly checking for and removing of the flatworms from under pots, stones and logs in your garden is the best way to try and control their numbers’, advised FIE’s Caroline Lewis, who made the discovery and has registered it with the National Biodiversity Data Centre’s Invasive Species database.

Flatworms from New Zealand were first recorded in Ireland in the 1960s but the Australian flatworm was not recorded until 1981.