all teeth It’s bigger in Texas.
Officials warned this week that heavy rains in the Houston area are expected to bring the foot-long, poisonous bugs that can regenerate if cut in half.
The nightmare hammerhead shark is an invasive species that secretes a toxin that can cause skin irritation in humans on contact.
The bugs, which thrive in hot tropical climates, are toxic to pets if ingested and are also known to carry parasites.
After being driven out of their underground burrows by rainstorms, they often litter lawns, sidewalks and roads, endangering humans and animals.
But don’t chop them up in an attempt to kill them, experts say.
“They’ll grow back,” said Ashley Morgan Olvera of the Texas Invasive Species Institute. He told KHOU.
“So if you cut it in two, you get two bugs,” she added.
Instead, wear gloves and place the worms in a plastic bag with salt and vinegar or citrus oil and place in the freezer overnight.
Don’t touch the bug, even if it’s dead. If you do, officials recommend immediately washing the affected area with soap and water, followed by a liberal application of hand sanitizer.
Hammerhead worms, also known as shovelheads or arrowheads, get their name from their strange head shape, which resembles a hammerhead shark. They can grow up to 15 inches long and are sometimes mistaken for a snake.
These pests prey on earthworms, which are essential to crops, gardens and the natural environment.
They smear the worms with a toxic slime, paralyzing them, and then extend their “mouths” into parts of the worm’s body and digest it, says entomology expert Dr. Blake Layton Jr. Mississippi State UniversityKHOU said.
This neutralizing toxin is the same toxin that causes skin irritation in humans and makes animals sick.
In addition to their frightening regenerative abilities, when they reproduce asexually they undergo a process that resembles a scene from a David Cronenberg movie.
“Part of the back of the worm breaks off and a new head grows, creating a new flatworm that is genetically identical to the parent – it’s literally a ‘take from the parent,'” Dr Layton said.
This worm, like other giant flatworm species, is capable of producing large numbers of offspring without a partner.
The head begins to form at about day 10 in a process that can occur several times a month. According to the Texas Invasive Species Institute.
These bugs love dark, damp places, are most active at night, and have a terrible taste, making them unattractive to predators.
Native to Asia, hammerhead sharks are thought to have made their way to the United States by hitchhiking on plant trade routes.
It has been reported in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas.
