Back to FAQ's About Worms
A. The easiest things to look for are color; body length; body
shape (cylindrical or flattened); number of body segments; number of
segments back to the clitellum on the body; and type and position of
body bristles or setae.
A. The head of the worm is always located on the end of the worm closest to the clitellum. Place a worm on a rough piece of paper and observe which direction it travels. Earthworms usually extend their "head" first when crawling.
A. The band is the clitellum. This saddle-shaped, swollen area
is about 1/3 of the way back on a worm's body. The clitellum secretes
mucus to form the cocoon which will hold the worm embryos.
A. Lumbricus terrestris (Nightcrawler, Dew worm) is one of North
America's largest. It ranges in size from 9-30 cm with a diameter of
6-10 mm. A nightcrawler nearly 30 cm long (stretched out) and weighing
11.2 g was collected in a soybean field in Ontario, Canada. The largest
tropical species are up to 120 cm long. The largest in the world are
some Australian forms which may reach 300 cm in length.
casts are the earthworm's undigested waste (worm poop). Casts are composed
of organic matter
mixed with soil. They are help together
with "gum" produced many active bacteria and mucus.
A. Earthworms have bristles or setae in groups around or under
their body. The bristles, paired in groups on each segment, can be moved
in and out to grip the ground or the walls of a burrow. Worms travel
through underground tunnels or move on the soil surface by using their
bristles as anchors, and pushing themselves forward or backward using
strong stretching and contracting muscles.
A. The rear half will always die, and the front half may live
to become another whole worm. This is called regeneration. The front
part must be long enough to contain the clitellum and at least 10 segments
behind the clitellum. This makes up about half the length of the worm.
The new posterior segments grown will be slightly smaller in diameter
than the original segments and sometimes a bit lighter in color.
A. They do not have eyes but they have light- and touch-sensitive
organs (receptor cells). These cells help them sense differences in light
intensity and to feel vibrations in the ground.
A. They coat themselves in mucus, which enables dissolved oxygen
to pass into their bloodstream.