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Studies on the local dispersal of the New Zealand flatworm, a predator of earthworms, in Edinburgh between 1993 and 1999
Author(s) -
GIBSON PETER H,
COSENS DEREK J
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
annals of applied biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1744-7348
pISSN - 0003-4746
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7348.2000.tb00077.x
Subject(s) - flatworm , biology , predator , turbellaria , earthworm , oligochaeta (plant) , biological dispersal , predation , ecology , wolf spider , theridiidae , spider , population , demography , sociology
Summary The flatworm Artioposthia triangulata was found, from studies using weighted down plastic sheeting, to move predominantly through the soil rather than over it and to use earthworm burrows. Under compost‐filled plastic sacks the flatworm was most active at night although its numbers were similar to those during the day. The transfer of specimens into an area covered with weighted plastic sheeting had no lasting effect on their numbers. The flatworm was regularly removed over 6 years from under paving stones, sheets of newspaper and cardboard placed on the ground in a garden. The rise and fall of the numbers of the flatworm under this debris suggest a predator‐prey periodicity between the flatworm and earthworms of 3 years.