Earthworms

After having 7 inches of rain in 6 days straight last week, I found this earthworm on my porch. There are many different species of worms. I know that this one is a nightcrawler because of its size and I found it at night.

They have ring shaped segments which are called "annuli." There are small bristles called "setae" which cover the annuli. These worms use their setae to dig into the ground and to move around. As you can see by the length of this one, they grow up to 14" long.

Their mouth is in the first segment. They feed on the soil as they dig into the ground, and as they move under the ground, they create tunnels. These tunnels bring air to the ground for the soil to breathe. When it rains, these tunnels allow water to get to the roots of anything that is planted. Oxygen and water helps roots to grow.

Nightcrawlers are excellent bait for fishing. When I was a child, I looked under rocks at night with a flashlight and caught worms to take with us the next morning when we went fishing. If we didn't take the boat out, we fished off of the dock. There were always other kids my age fishing off of the dock, and I was constantly baiting hooks because I was the only one who would touch the worms. Ew, I can't imagine me touching these worms today.

Information Source: sciencing.com

Image Source: 100% own work.