A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Ready to get your ewwweeewww factor going? Check out this very colorful and very slimy land planarian (flatworm). It is approximately 12 inches long! Land planarians are voracious predators and they hunt the forest floor for invertebrates such as earthworms, snails, slugs, insects and chelicerates. They attack and capture their prey using brute force, sticky adhesive goo, and digestive enzymes in their slimy mucus. Cool right??
Because they do not have water-retaining mechanisms, they have very specific habitat requirements and are extremely sensitive to changes in their environment. According to wikipedia, "some species have been proposed as indicators of the conservation state of their habitats....and can be also used to accurately determine the distribution of biogeographic zones." Who knew that a slimy land planarian would be a good thing to look for to determine the overall health and vitality of an ecosystem??
For fun check out this website for more info: http://www.realmonstrosities.com/2012/01...
This is amazingly colorful! Our land planarians are boring(comparatively) and yellow or tan. I would not say "ewww" either!
Here is mine from New York:
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/...