A tropical monster up to a foot long that preys on earth worms has colonised an area of southern France, scientists have revealed.
Several species of giant hammerhead flatworm are thought to have been living there for more than 20 years.
One of the nightmarish-looking beasts was also reported in the UK in Victorian times – although confined to a botanical garden greenhouse.
The invasive creatures cannot tolerate freezing conditions, so are unlikely to survive a British winter outdoors.
Researchers studied photos, videos, and captured specimens of the flatworms collected by members of the public.
They were “amazed” that such enormous invaders could have escaped attention in a European country for an estimated period of more than 20 years.
In total five species of hammerhead flatworm were reported in urban areas of southern France, including two “giants”, Bipalium kewense and Diversibipalium multilineatum.
B. kewense is known to have reached the UK. In fact it was named after London’s Kew Gardens after being discovered in a greenhouse there in 1878.
Lead scientist Professor Jean-Lou Justine, from the Museum of Natural History in Paris, France, said: “The name of Bipalium kewense means in Latin ‘from Kew’. The species was described from specimens found in the famous Kew Gardens.
“So, yes, hammerhead flatworms are present in UK.”
A hotspot for the creatures was identified around the city of Bayonne on the Atlantic coast of France, which has the kind of mild, moist climate in which they thrive.
Prof Justine’s team wrote in the journal Peer J: “We received several reports by citizens mentioning dozens of specimens in their gardens.
“In some cases, citizens repeatedly reported high numbers, even when the worms were removed by hand and destroyed.”
The giant flatworms originate from Asia but have found their way around the world. However, until now they have not been scientifically studied in Europe.
Because they eat other animals that live in the earth, including garden-friendly worms, they are considered a potential threat to diversity and soil ecology.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article