earthworm - Hutchinson encyclopedia article about earthworm Printer Friendly
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earthworm

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earthworm

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The earthworm burrows through the soil by pressing its minute bristles into the walls of the tunnel and pulling itself along. The thickened segment, or saddle, towards the front of the body lies near the reproductive organs and secretes the egg cocoons.

Annelid worm of the class Oligochaeta. Earthworms are hermaphroditic and deposit their eggs in cocoons. They live by burrowing in the soil, feeding on the organic matter it contains. They are vital to the formation of humus, aerating the soil and levelling it by transferring earth from the deeper levels to the surface as castings.

Most North American earthworms belong to the genus Lumbricus. These are comparatively small, but some tropical forms reach over 1 m/3 ft in length. Megascolides australis, of Queensland, for instance, can be over 3 m/11 ft long.



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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
I did my Biology at University College,--getting out the ovary of the earthworm and the radula of the snail, and all that.
The Island of Doctor Moreau by Wells, H.G. View in context
The giants came up, and the first pushed him with his foot, and said, 'What sort of an earthworm is that?
The Yellow Fairy Book by Lang, Andrew View in context
No lower estimate could have vindicated the indefatigable zeal with which she scratched, and her unscrupulousness in digging up the choicest flower or vegetable, for the sake of the fat earthworm at its root.
House Of Seven Gables by Hawthorne, Nathaniel View in context
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