Come along to learn all about the wriggling worms that live in the dirt beneath your feet. Earthworms are everywhere, and there are many species of worms yet to be discovered. How do worms communicate? Why do worms have slime? Why do worms come out when it rains? Answers to all of your worm questions with earthworm detective Sam James. Plus, we learn about worm composting with a kid who’s in charge of her family’s food scraps!
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- Earthworms are part of a group called annelids, segmented worms that live on land (usually underground), whose bodies are made up of little rings. The other big group of segmented worms, called polychaetes, live in the ocean.
- Earthworms eat decaying plant matter, and help make sure plants can use the nutrients in soil much faster than if the organic matter decayed on its own.
- An earthworm’s body is made up of segments called annuli. They’re covered in small bristles, called setae, which help the worm wiggle and burrow into the soil.
- Earthworms do not have eyes. They spend most of their time underground and don’t need to see. But they can sense differences in the light. And they are able to smell, taste, and feel vibrations.
- Why do worms come to the surface when it rains? Earthworms breathe oxygen that’s in the soil. (They absorb oxygen through their skin.) During big rainstorms, the water seeps into the spaces in the soil and oxygen becomes scarce, so the earthworms come to the surface to breathe. Earthworms do not become two worms if they are cut in half. The front half will grow a new tail, but the back half of the worm will die.
- The soil you see has likely been in a worm at one point in time. And most likely will be in a worm again in the future!
- There are about 5,000 known species of earthworms - but new earthworm species are discovered frequently and there are a lot more out there waiting to be discovered.
