A speckled brown terrestrial flatworm up to 15 cm in length, accidentally introduced from New Zealand to Britain where it is destroying earthworm populations.
Artioposthia triangulata, order Tricladida, class Turbellaria
Example sentencesExamples
- The New Zealand flatworm, introduced into Edinburgh in potted plants in 1960, is now eating native earthworms throughout central Scotland and endangering the fertility of the soil.
- The New Zealand flatworm is concentrated in southern Scotland and the Australian flatworm in southwest England.
- The New Zealand flatworm is found mainly in the north of England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
- Studies on captive New Zealand flatworms have shown that they can consume several earthworms in a week.
- It is forty years since the first New Zealand flatworms were first recorded in Ireland.