When you dig in your garden and find worms, you probably think that I have always been here in America. Actually, early European settlers brought me over to North America during the 1600s and 1700s. Many travelers back then would bring plants with them from their country. I tagged along in the soil around the roots of these plants. (You can learn more about these times at Jamestown Timeline .)
A lot of people think that all foreign insects, weeds, and animals are bad. I'll bet you can think of several that are very common harmful pests such as Japanese Beetle, gypsy moth, and the Asian long-horned beetle. These were all brought in and soon became very harmful to plants we grow in our gardens. What damage do these insects cause?
As an imported foreign animal, I am a little different though. If I hadn't been brought over, your soils and gardens would be very poor. If I did have any ancestors in this country before I was brought over, they were probably wiped out during the last Ice Age 10,000 to 50,000 years ago.
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. A 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.
I'll bet you think that the earthworm is only good for fish bait. Well, think again. The earthworm is one of nature's top "soil scientists." The earthworm is responsible for a lot of the things that help make our soil good enough to grow healthy plants and provide us food.
Worms help water flow through the soil. Worms help to increase the amount of air and water that gets into the soil. They break down organic matter, like leaves and grass into things that plants can use. When they eat, they leave behind castings that are a very valuable type of fertilizer.
Earthworms are like free farm help. They help to "turn" the soil—bringing down organic matter from the top and mixing it with the soil below. Another interesting job that the worm has is that of making fertilizer. If there are 500,000 worms living in an acre of soil, they could make 50 tons of castings. That's like lining up 100,000 one-pound coffee cans filled with castings. These same 500,000 worms burrowing into an acre of soil can create a drainage system equal to 2,000 feet of 6-inch pipe. Pretty amazing for just a little old worm, don't you think?
Having worms around in your garden is a really good sign that you have healthy soil.
A lot of people think that all foreign insects, weeds, and animals are bad. I'll bet you can think of several that are very common harmful pests such as Japanese Beetle, gypsy moth, and the Asian long-horned beetle. These were all brought in and soon became very harmful to plants we grow in our gardens. What damage do these insects cause?
As an imported foreign animal, I am a little different though. If I hadn't been brought over, your soils and gardens would be very poor. If I did have any ancestors in this country before I was brought over, they were probably wiped out during the last Ice Age 10,000 to 50,000 years ago.
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. A 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.
I'll bet you think that the earthworm is only good for fish bait. Well, think again. The earthworm is one of nature's top "soil scientists." The earthworm is responsible for a lot of the things that help make our soil good enough to grow healthy plants and provide us food.
Worms help water flow through the soil. Worms help to increase the amount of air and water that gets into the soil. They break down organic matter, like leaves and grass into things that plants can use. When they eat, they leave behind castings that are a very valuable type of fertilizer.
Earthworms are like free farm help. They help to "turn" the soil—bringing down organic matter from the top and mixing it with the soil below. Another interesting job that the worm has is that of making fertilizer. If there are 500,000 worms living in an acre of soil, they could make 50 tons of castings. That's like lining up 100,000 one-pound coffee cans filled with castings. These same 500,000 worms burrowing into an acre of soil can create a drainage system equal to 2,000 feet of 6-inch pipe. Pretty amazing for just a little old worm, don't you think?
Having worms around in your garden is a really good sign that you have healthy soil.
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