Activities

Picture by Sue Woods

Appearance

• Earthworms belong to the group of animals called annelids, these are worms that have segmented bodies, you can easily see these segments (rings around the body) along a worm's body. There may be as many as 250 segments in a large worm.
• Each segment has four tiny bristles (tough hairs) underneath its body. You can hear these if you place a worm on a piece of paper. These bristles help the worm grip.
• If you look closely at a worm, the pointed end is the head end. The worm has no eyes or head but it is really sensitive to touch and has as many as 700 'taste buds' on each square millimetre at the front end.
• Along the body of an adult worm is a saddle, a larger slightly coloured band around the body. This is involved with reproduction.
• Contrary to common myth Earthworms will NOT grow into two worms if cut into half.

• Worms are found throughout the world. Every acre of grassland can contain up to 3 million Earthworms.
• Worms have been around on plant earth for about 120 million years.

• Worms spend their days tunnelling through soil. Worms usually tunnel at least 20cm everyday.
• Worms don't usually go deeper than 25cm down into the soil. In dry weather some worms might dig deeper and curl themselves up in a ball and sleep during the summer. These type of earthworms are of the Allolobophora species.

• Earthworms are both male and female at the same time. Animals like this are called hermaphrodites. They still need to find another worm to reproduce.
• When they mate, the worms face opposite directions and twist their bodies together. When they separate the saddle produces jelly like mucous which contains the fertilised eggs. They pass this down their body and over their head when the ends seal. This is the worm's cocoon and looks like a small lemon. After a few weeks a few little worms will hatch from the cocoon.

• Worms eat dead plant material, including fallen leaves and rotting roots. Some burrow up to the surface, find a fallen leaf and pull it back down into the ground.
• Worms are important, they help to return the nutrients from dead plants and leaves back into the soil, plants need nutrients to grow.
• Some worms, the Allolobophora species, create worm casts. These are the small piles of worm shaped earth you can find on your lawn in winter. This is really worm poo, but it is not smelly, instead it contains lots of nutrients which is really good for the garden.

• Lots of animals eat worms. The menu of some badgers can contain at least 70% badgers.
• Other worm eaters include birds, hedgehogs, moles, frogs and even slugs and leeches.
• You will sometimes see birds 'puddling'. This involves the bird almost dancing on the spot, they are trying to fool the worms to come to the surface by making it sound like rain drops on top of the ground. Worms tend to come to the surface when it rains, so if the worm thinks it's raining they come to the surface and are eaten by a hungry (and clever!) bird.
• If they can avoid being eaten, common earthworms can live to an age of 10 years.

• Can you fool worms? Try different ways of getting worms to come to the surface: try tapping the ground with sticks to make it sound like raindrops; alternatively pour water on the ground and wait for the worms to arrive. You will need to wait and watch for a while. Who can charm the most worms out of the ground?
• Look for worm casts on lawns and grass in winter. Some worms, the Allolobophora species, create worm casts. These are the small piles of worm shaped earth you can find on your lawn in winter. This is really worm poo, but it is not smelly, instead it contains lots of nutrients which is really good for the garden.

More Activities

• Fertilised When the seed from the male meets the egg from the female to start new life.
• Mate: When the female and the male get together to start a family.
• Hermaphrodites: Animals which are both male and female.
• Reproduction: To make babies.
• Segmented: In pieces.
• Bristles: hairs
• Taste buds: What we have to be able to taste.