Worm News

Latest species to invade Houston is an icky super-long predatory worm

They get their name from their "hammer" head.

Like red ants and killer bees aren't bad enough, there's another invasive species in Texas that has slithered into Houston: an extra-long worm — it can be nearly a foot long — disgusting on its own, but also predatory, in that it eats earthworms, which are essential to maintain healthy soil.

It's called a hammerhead flatworm, and The Texas Invasive Species Institute confirms that they're starting to be spotted in the Houston area. The species is quite established in Southeast Texas.

Ashley Morgan-Olvera, the institute's director of research and outreach, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that they've received hundreds of reports of hammerhead flatworms in the past few weeks in Dallas, Tarrant, and Smith counties, and even as far north as Missouri.

They're called hammerhead worms because they have a flattened head that resembles the Hammerhead shark. Also known as hammerhead slugs, they're thought to be native to Southeast Asia, and accidentally introduced to North America during the early 1900s with the importation of plants.

They require humidity and can't survive in the desert, one good reason to move to the desert.

They're to be avoided: While preying on sweet gentle earthworms, the flatworms secrete a neurotoxin that is necessary for them to able to digest them — one that can irritate your skin and make your pets sick if eaten.

They also can transmit harmful parasites to humans and mammals, so you're advised to #1 not touch them with your bare hands; and #2 dispose of them properly, which means: place them in sealed bags with salt or vinegar and freeze them overnight (possibly a challenge if you're also not touching them).

Also: If you find one, report it to the Texas Invasive Species Institute, which has a page dedicated to the worm's habits, as well as a summary of the 800 or so other invasive species that have invaded Texas.

The Institute offers a warning: Do not cut the hammerhead worm in half or smash them into bits with your shovel in a psychotic fury. If you do, new heads will form within ten days, and you've created more hammerhead worms.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”