The Earthworm Study

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a Essay about the earthworm excellent work

Earthworm Study

By Justin Ramesar

December 15, 1996

Habitat Of The Earthworm

What is the habitat of the earthworm?

The earthworm lives in the ground, usually in good garden soil. It restricts its above-ground activities to the night time. Even than it never leaves it burrow completely, it fastens its posterior end firmly into the hole where it can re-enter the hole in a hurry.

How does the earthworm survive in very hot or very cold weather?

In very cold or hot weather, the worm plugs the opening of the burrow and retires deep in the earth. Several worms may collect and roll themselves into a ball, remaining well below the frost line until better weather returns.

Where does the earthworm receive the energy required for burrowing?

Throughout the worms life, it spends most of it time pushing, eating its way through the soil by swallowing earth below the surface and depositing its casting at the mouth of the burrow.

The earth contains humus and as it passes through its body the worm digests the humus and produces energy.

External Features

The earthworm body is soft and covered with a viscid, slippery substance called mucus. The worms shape is a large, clearly cylindrical, tapered at one end and clearly flat at the other. The bristles or around setae on the worm cling to things around the worm. There are four pairs or setae on each segment. There are two pairs of setae on the lateral side and two other pairs on the ventral side. When the worm is moving the setae cling to the ground so that the worm wont slip around. The worm does have a definite anterior which is tapered and the posterior end id flat, spatula-shaped.

The Worms Mouth And...