Fascinating Facts About Earthworm

Fascinating  Facts About Earthworm

“The plow is one of the most ancient and most valuable of Man’s inventions; but long before he existed, the land … was regularly ploughed, and still continues to be ploughed, by earthworms. It may be (doubtful) whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world as these lowly, organized creatures.”- Charles Darwin, 1881

1. The name “earthworm” can pertain to many different species- there are approximately 2,700 different kinds of earthworms. Some that can be found here:

-Nightcrawler
-most common garden worm, imported from Europe by accident in potted plants 
-lives deeper in soil than most other worms

-Compost ("manure") worm
-used in composting

-Green worm 
-can be green to yellow, pink, or gray

-Snake ("crazy") worm
-Very fast moving 
-lashes about when disturbed, often sheds "tail" which continues to lash about while the rest of the earthworm escapes.
-From China.

2. The earthworm is an invertebrate, round worm that is mostly non-parasitic. Earthworms  have soft moist bodies. The bodies are segmented and round.

3. Earthworms live in deep, dark, narrow tunnels underground. Earthworms are found in  moist soils, it is estimated that 50,000 earthworms live in 1 acre of moist soil. Earthworms are also found under rocks and felled trees.

4. Most earthworms are scavengers that feed on dead and decaying things in the soil. They feed by passing soil through the pharynx and into the crop and gizzards and then out through the intestine and anus. In this process, the earthworm extracts the nutrients from the soil as it passes through their bodies.

5. Interesting facts of earthworms are, they can regenerate from wherever they break. Each segment of there bodies is separate and have separation walls called septa. Earthworms move by tiny bristles on their bodies called setae, each segment has 4 to 6 depending on the species. Every segmented worm is the same, the body organs are in the same place in every worm, and all the segments are the same.

6. The earthworm has two sets of muscles; one that makes it long and thin and one that makes it shorter and fatter.

7. A earthworm has blood and blood vessels  (dorsal & ventral) with multiple (5) hearts. 

8. Even though worms don’t have eyes, they can sense light, especially at their anterior (front end). They move away from light and will become paralyzed if exposed to light for too long (approximately one hour). 

9. An earthworm can grow only so long. A well-fed adult will depend on what kind of worm it is, how many segments it has, how old it is and how well fed it is.

10. A worm has no arms, legs or eyes.

11. There are approximately 2,700 different kinds of earthworms.

12. In one acre of land, there can be more than a million earthworms.

13. The largest earthworm ever found was in South Africa and measured 22 feet from its nose to the tip of its tail.

14. Worms are cold-blooded animals.

15. If a worm’s skin dries out, it will die.

16. Worms can eat their weight each day.

17. They don't have teeth but they have strong mouth muscles. Dew worms or nightcrawlers 
often surface at night to pull fallen leaves down into their burrow. When the leaf softens a little they pull off small bits to munch on. Worms also "swallow" soil as they  burrow.

18. Darkness lets them avoid being dried out by the sun. If their skin dries out, they can no longer breathe. Light paralyzes them if they're in it more than an hour. Then they can't move back to the safety of the soil.

19. Worms use the many tiny bristles or setae on each of their body rings to help them crawl as well as to anchor themselves firmly in their burrows. The robin has to tug because the worm is gripping the soil!

20. Earthworms eat soil! Their nutrition comes from things in soil, such as decaying roots and leaves. Animal manures are an important food source for earthworms. They eat living organisms such as nematodes, protozoans, rotifers, bacteria, fungi in soil. Worms will also feed on the decomposing remains of other animals.

21. Earthworms can produce more compost, in a shorter time, than any other method. Worm 
castings (the odorless excrement of the earth worm) in the soil are five times as rich in available nitrogen, seven times as rich in available phosphorus, three times as rich in available magnesium, two times as  rich in available carbon, one and one half times as rich in available calcium and eleven times as rich in available potassium as anything else in the upper  six inches of soil. One thousand earthworms and their descendants, under ideal conditions, could  convert approximately one ton of organic waste into high yield fertilizer in one year.

22. However, the importance of earthworms  is not a very modern phenomenon. The Ancient 
Greeks considered the earthworm to have an important role in improving the quality of the  soil.  The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 – 322 B.C.) referred to worms as “the intestines of the earth”.

23. Did you know the ancient Egyptians were the first to recognize the beneficial status of the earthworm? Cleopatra (69-30 B.C.) recognized the earthworms’ contribution to Egyptian agriculture and declared them to be sacred. Removal of earthworms from Egypt was 
punishable by death. Egyptian farmers were not allowed to even touch an earthworm for fear of offending the god of fertility. A 1949 study by the USDA confirmed that the great fertility of the soil in the Nile valley was due in large part to the work of earthworms. 

24. Charles Darwin (1809 -1882) studied earthworms for more than forty years and devoted 
an entire book (The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms) to the earthworm.  Darwin said, “It may be doubted that there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world as have these lowly organized 
creatures.”

25. Their tunneling activity helps aerate the soil. The channels they make as they move through the soil allow rain to enter the soil more rapidly, reduce water runoff, and reduce the potential for erosion. This also helps improve soil structure by creating a loose soil that is easily penetrated by roots.

26. Earthworms neutralize soil pH. Their castings are always closer to neutral than the original soil. The pH in acidic soils is lifted, and the pH in alkaline soils is reduced. 

27. Earthworms gradually deepen the topsoil layer by burrowing into the sub-soil and  translocating fine mineral particles to the surface in the form of castings. 

28. Earthworms solve waste problems by composting organic matter.  Composting with worms 
occurs four times faster than normal composting.

29. High earthworm populations contribute to biological pest control as soils with earthworms has been shown to have far fewer parasitic nematodes than soil without earthworms. Many other soil borne diseases also appear to be reduced.

30. Earthworm castings are a sterile, odorless means to condition your soil and an organic and natural way to provide your plants with the nutrients they need, when they need them. Scientists have shown that castings work extremely well in promoting lush plant growth, but they are not exactly sure why they work as well as they do. It just goes to show that Mother Nature knows best.

31. With their mixing, digging, burrowing, fertilizing, and humusmaking,activities, earthworms have an immense impact on the soil, its texture, its fertility, and its ability to support everything that lives in or on it, especially plants that form the basis of our food supply. But worms must be fed as they proliferate in direct proportion to the amount of organic matter incorporated into the soil.  So what do earthworms eat? 

32. Earthworms eat dirt! The earthworm is specially adapted for eating and digesting decaying leaves and other organic material in the soil. Animal manures are an important food source for earthworms. They eat living organisms such as nematodes, protozoans, bacteria, and fungi in soil. Worms will also feed on the decomposing remains of other animals.

33. An earthworm has a brain, five hearts, and “breathes” through its skin. 

34. An earthworm produces its own weight in casts everyday.

35. There are over 1 million earthworms in one acre of soil.

36. Earthworms can burrow as deep as fifteen feet.

37. Earthworms are 82% protein and are a food source for many people around the world.

38. Eating earthworms can reduce cholesterol, as the basic essential oil of earthworms is 
Omega 3.