 |
-
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. An Lumbricus terrestris will be from 90-300
millimeters long.
-
A
worm has no arms, legs or eyes.
-
There
are approximately 2,700 different kinds of earthworms.
-
Worms
live where there is food, moisture, oxygen and a favorable temperature.
If they don’t have these things, they go somewhere else.
-
In
one acre of land, there can be more than a million earthworms.
-
The
largest earthworm ever found was in South Africa and measured 22 feet
from its nose to the tip of its tail.
-
Worms
tunnel deeply in the soil and bring subsoil closer to the surface
mixing it with the topsoil. Slime, a secretion of earthworms, contains
nitrogen. Nitrogen is an important nutrient for plants. The sticky
slime helps to hold clusters of soil particles together in formations
called aggregates.
-
Charles
Darwin spent 39 years studying earthworms more than 100 years ago.
-
Worms
are cold-blooded animals.
-
Earthworms
have the ability to replace or replicate lost segments. This ability
varies greatly depending on the species of worm you have, the amount of
damage to the worm and where it is cut. It may be easy for a worm to
replace a lost tail, but may be very difficult or impossible to replace a
lost head if things are not just right.
-
Baby
worms are not born. They hatch from cocoons smaller than a grain of
rice.
-
The
Australian Gippsland Earthworm grows to 12 feet long and can weigh
1-1/2 pounds.
-
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).
-
If
a worm’s skin dries out, it will die.
-
Worms
are hermaphrodites. Each worm has both male and female organs. Worms
mate by joining their clitella (swollen area near the head of a mature
worm) and exchanging sperm. Then each worm forms an egg capsule in
its clitellum.
- Worms
can eat their weight each day.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment