Source: Here

Earthworm Hunter

Continuing with the worm theme, Joe sent me this lovely little creature. Say hello to the land planarian. Though I don't know the specific species of this colorful land planarian, it's guaranteed to dine on earthworms.

Photo source: The Peripatetic Pedaller




















Most creatures have the decency of hunting, then eating, then digesting. Not so with the land planarian. No, this creature hunts, then digests, then eats. As the Peripatetic Pedaller describes: "They digest their prey outside their bodies, by secreting enzymes that will melt an earthworm into a digestible slurry. Yum."




















To add insult to injury, the planarian's mouth is also its anus (I imagine they don't kiss very often). And, they travel on a slime trail like snails and slugs. But they can also use this slime to create a thread to dangle itself down to otherwise unreachable sections of the forest floor.

Who knew such a basic creature could provide us with so many I-just-threw-up-a-little-in-my-mouth moments?


-- Edited by Jollyjo at 21:11, 2008-08-18