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Ever wonder what those little earthworms are up to? Learn why worms are wonderful with Jessi and Squeaks! ---------- Like SciShow? Want to help support us, and also get things to put on your walls, cover your torso and hold your liquids?

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How To Make A Worm Farm - DIY At Bunnings

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Visit http://www.bunnings.com.au/diy-advice for more information on other DIY projects. In this video, Mark from Bunnings Warehouse demonstrates how to make a worm farm from scratch. This fun activity is one you can do with the kids that will not only get them involved in the garden but will teach them about the environment too.

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One of the benefits of worm composting is the worms' poop which is very nutrient-rich compost. Vermicompost (the fancy name for worm poop) is really good for all indoor and outdoor plants and excellent to add to a vegetable garden. It will take around 6 months before you are able to harvest worm compost for the first time. After that, you will be able to harvest worm compost a little bit every month or so depending on the size of your worm compost bin and your worm herd.

There are a couple different ways to harvest worm compost.

How to Harvest Worm Compost: Vermicompost Harvesting Methods

1. Handfuls - The simplest way to access your worm castings is digging down to the bottom of the worm compost bin and grabbing a handful of vermicompost. You can either add it to your garden (worms and all), or pick out the composting worms and then add it to your garden.

2. Pyramid Method - Another option is to wait until most of your worm compost bin has been converted into worm castings (they eat the worm bin bedding too) and then dump the whole bin out on a tarp on a sunny day. Form a couple small pyramids of worm castings and the worms will burrow into the pyramid because they don't like the light. Then, carefully brush worm castings off of the outside of the pyramid and set aside. The worms will burrow again. Repeat until almost all worm castings are harvested and you are left with a ball of worms. Refill your bin with fresh worm compost bin bedding and add your composting worms back to the bin.

3. Side to Side Migration Method - Wait until all your bedding has been processed into vermicompost. Then, pull it all to one side of your worm compost bin leaving the other side open. Fill the open side with fresh worm bin bedding and begin feeding your worms only on that side. Over the course of a couple weeks most of your worms will take the hint and move to the new side and you can pull finished worm compost from the other.

4. Screen and Light Method - Take advantage of the fact that worms don't like the light and will move away from it to harvest worm compost. Pull several handfuls of vermicompost out from the bottom of your worm compost bin and spread thinly on a piece of window screen or very fine hardware cloth. Then, put the window screen or hardware cloth on top of your open bin so that it is resting on the bedding. Shine a light on the vermicomposting bin or leave outside on a sunny day and the worms in the vermicompost will move away from the light, down through the screen, and back into their worm compost bin. Wait a couple hours for the worms to move and then simply lift the screen off and use the worm castings.

5. Corralling Methods - You are a worm rancher, why not set up a corral? Use an old onion or potato bag that has many holes in it (burlap also works well). Fill The bag (the worm corral) with some fresh bedding and some of their favorite food. Tie the bag shut and burry or place it in your worm compost bin. Be sure the worms don't have any other food in their bin except for in the worm corral bag. Wait a couple weeks for the worms to get inside the bag and then simply lift out your worm corral and use your worm castings.

6. Cylinder Spinning Harvester - If you have a lot of worm compost to process you may want to consider building or buying a worm compost harvester that is designed to separate the worms from the worm compost. Check out the below video of me using one that I built. The cylinder is made from 1/4 inch hardware cloth. Handfuls of worm compost + worms go in the top. As it spins, the small chunks of worm castings fall through the screen while the large chunks and the worms come out the back. It works decently but it is certainly not perfect.

7. Flow Through Bin - My favorite way to harvest worm compost is to use a bin that helps! Build or buy yourself a continuous flow through worm bin and harvesting is much easier. Flow through worm bins usually have some sort of grate holding the bedding up and are open underneath for harvesting. Composting worms move upwards as they eat leaving the worm castings behind. The very bottom should not have many worms in it. Castings either fall through the grate on their own because of the worms movement or you can use a hand cultivator to agitate and knock it through. The Worm Wigwam ( more info or purchase here) even has a harvest crank attached to a blade that sits on top of the grate and scrapes off the bottom layer of worm compost.

If you found this article helpful, please share it with a friend. Thanks

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One of the benefits of worm composting is the worms' poop which is very nutrient-rich compost. Vermicompost (the fancy name for worm poop) is really good for all indoor and outdoor plants and excellent to add to a vegetable garden. It will take around 6 months before you are able to harvest worm compost for the first time.

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BBC - Gardening - Gardening Guides: Gardening with Children - Worms

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Find out lots of interesting facts about worms. Gardening with Children from BBC Gardening

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What better to do on a rainy day than go on a worm hunt? My girls are loving these slimy little creatures lately so we found a way that we could keep a few as "pets" for a while. To make your own worm farm you need just a few basic things:

an empty 2 liter bottle (or something similar in size)

small rocks

sand

dirt

worms

black construction paper

Start by cutting off the top of your bottle (of course, this is a parent's job). I added some tape around the rim of the bottle so there were no sharp edges. I used a hole punch to make some air holes in the top piece, and I also left the cap off the top in the end. It would also be a good idea to make some holes for drainage in the bottom of the bottle (a step I didn't do this time, but will do next time since all the water seems to rise to the top and make a puddle that just sits).

The girls took turns adding the rocks to the bottom for drainage, then about a 2 inch layer of sand, and finally 2 inch layer of soil (just from our garden). We repeated with another layer of sand and dirt until we were pretty close to the top of the cut bottle.

Don't forget to put in some worms with those layers of dirt. We just used the ones that were wiggling around under our soil. We also added some small pieces of banana peel in the middle to decompose and give food to the worms.

This is how the final product looked after taping the top of the bottle back onto the base, although I decided to remove the bottle cap to allow for more air flow. Then I took some black construction paper and wrapped it around the bottle. Daylight is not a worm's friend, so the dark paper helps to simulate their natural habitat.

After a couple of days we were able to remove the black paper and see what the worms had been up to. We could see several of them making their way through their new home. The girls love their new little pets. We just make sure that the soil stays nice and moist and give them extra fruit peels every few days.

What garden friends do your kids love?

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What better to do on a rainy day than go on a worm hunt? My girls are loving these slimy little creatures lately so we found a way that we could keep a few as "pets" for a while.

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Regular contributor Tricia Hogbin of Little Eco Footprints shares a simple eco-friendly project perfect for introducing children to the superpowers of worms!
Making a worm farm using free and recycled materials is easy - easy enough that children can do it themselves with just a little help. All you need is a couple of recycled Styrofoam veggie boxes, a handful of compost worms and some worm bedding. Within weeks you will be reducing your household waste and producing fertiliser for your garden.
You will need:

Two styrofoam produce boxes. You can get these from your greengrocer. Make sure at least one has a lid.

Knitting needle, chop stick, screwdriver or other sharp tool for making holes in the styrofoam box.

Worm bedding. A bucket of compost is ideal worm bedding. You can also use shredded paper, leaves or old straw.

A big handful of compost worms. You can buy compost worms online, or better still get your worms from a friend or neighbour who has a worm farm. An easy way to collect worms from an existing worm farm is to crack an egg in one corner of the worm farm. Return a day later and that corner will be full of worms ready to collect.

A newspaper

How to make your worm farm

Poke holes in the bottom of one of your boxes. This box is the 'feeder box' - where the worms will live and feed.

Half fill the feeder box with the worm bedding. Make sure your bedding is moist but not wet. If you are using dry materials like straw or shredded paper, wet them first and then squeeze out any excess water.

Carefully scatter the worms on top of the worm bedding. A handful of worms will contain around 1,000 worms.

Soak the newspaper in water and lay it on top of the worm bedding. This will help keep the worms' home dark and moist.

Place the feeder box on top of the box that doesn't have any holes. This lower box is where you will collect the worm wee. Place your worm farm in a shady spot in Summer and a sunny spot in Winter.

You can decorate your worm farm using permanent markers.

How to look after your worm farm

Leave your worms to settle in for a week.

After a week you can start adding kitchen scraps on top of the bedding, underneath the newspaper. Add only small amounts (around a handful) initially. As more worms breed they will eat more food. Eventually your worm farm should be able to handle most of your kitchen scraps.

Keep the top layer of newspaper damp and replace as needed.

To harvest the worm castings move all the castings to one side and add fresh bedding to the empty side. Most of the worms will move to the fresh bedding and in a few days you can then remove the castings. Worm castings are a great plant food. Grow seedlings direct in the castings or use it to top dress your pot plants or garden.

The worm wee is a super plant fertiliser. Pour the worm wee from the bottom box into a watering can or bucket and dilute 1 part worm juice to 20 parts water. It is too strong to use undiluted.

You can eventually increase the size of your worm farm by adding an additional feeder box on top, creating a multi-story worm farm. The worms will migrate up through the holes to the new bedding. After the worms have all migrated to the top box you can plant seedlings directly into the initial feeder box to create a miniature garden.

Wishing you and your children loads of messy fun making a worm farm.
Check out more of Tricia's playful ideas for kids (and their families)...
Tricia is a nature-loving mum passionate about learning to live better with less. Working in threatened species conservation she has gained an increasing appreciation of the huge impact our consumption habits have on the environment. She hopes to inspire other families to live a little better with less too. Having recently made a 'tree change', you'll now likely find Tricia excitedly playing outdoors with her daughter, adding to her small flock of chooks and pottering in her new garden.

Read more of Tricia's adventures at http://littleecofootprints.com/.

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Family Weekend Project: Make a Worm Farm

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Regular contributor Tricia Hogbin of Little Eco Footprints shares a simple eco-friendly project perfect for introducing children to the superpowers of worms! Making a worm farm using free and recycled materials is easy - easy enough that children can do it themselves with just a little help.

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What you need

Activity

To build a worm farm use a wooden container.

Drill small holes in the bottom and sides of the wooden container for air and drainage.

Place the container on bricks for air.

Place a tray underneath the worm farm to capture any excess moisture.

Shred the newspaper wet it and place moist layers inside the box. Fill the box three-quarters full with wet shredded newspaper.

Add a handful of soil for grit for the worm's digestion and some worms.

Cover the worm farm box with an old carpet or wet newspaper to provide darkness for the worms and maintain a constant moisture level.

During a period of two to three months, the worms will eat food waste and produce a rich soil conditioner which can be used in your garden.

How to care for your worms:

Feed worms food scraps in little pieces buried in the worm farm.

Do not feed them citrus fruits or meat (can lead to bad smells and maggots) or onions.

Too much food will result in bad odours. Make sure that the worms are eating what you are putting into the bin, before adding more.

The bedding must remain not too dry and not too wet.

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What you need Activity To build a worm farm use a wooden container. Drill small holes in the bottom and sides of the wooden container for air and drainage. Place the container on bricks for air. Place a tray underneath the worm farm to capture any excess moisture.

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After days of rain there was high excitement to discover that dozens of worms had wiggled their way onto our veranda.

This sight ignited the inner wildlife warrior in a group of our girls.

It became their mission to return their lost worm friends to their rightful habitat in the garden.

They pulled up chairs to give themselves a ringside seat to all the worm action!

Of course, sitting right there, worms in plain sight just wiggling away, the temptation was too great not to "rescue" them over and over again.

So we had to have the talk. The 'worms are delicate creatures who like to live in the dark moist soil and not the loving but not always gentle hands of little girls' talk.

Not wanting to dampen the girls' interest and curiosity about worms and their behaviour, we came up with a compromise.

Maybe by creating a habitat for the worms (think ant farms but with worms) the children could keep observing without killing the worms with kindness.

Making worm farms was a simple process:

Find a glass or plastic container large enough to fit worms and soil. We used small aquariums but even a plastic soft drink container would be suitable.

Layer soil and sand in the container, making sure the top layer is soil. If the soil is dry, add some water so that the soil stays moist.

Gather your worms. Luckily for our intrepid worm hunters, my lovely colleague had her gardening hat on and was digging nearby. With every shovel-load the soil was eagerly inspected for more wiggly friends to add to their collection.

Step 4:

Add food (lettuce, egg shells, tea bags, coffee grinds, fruit peel) to the top of the container.

Add your worms to their new home, and cover to keep dark.

Over the course of a few days, we should be able to see the worms have tunnelled; eaten their food and mixed up the sand with the soil.

I love how the natural world taps into children's innate sense of wonder and curiosity - although I have to admit there is a part of me that is uneasy about keeping creatures in containers - what do you think?

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After days of rain there was high excitement to discover that dozens of worms had wiggled their way onto our veranda. This sight ignited the inner wildlife warrior in a group of our girls. It became their mission to return their lost worm friends to their rightful habitat in the garden.

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A worm farm is a great way for kids to learn how to take care of the environment. Read on to find out how to make a worm farm, plus lots of worm facts for kids!

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2018 Copyright. All Rights Reserved. The Sponsored Listings displayed above are served automatically by a third party. Neither the service provider nor the domain owner maintain any relationship with the advertisers. In case of trademark issues please contact the domain owner directly (contact information can be found in whois).

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2018 Copyright. All Rights Reserved. The Sponsored Listings displayed above are served automatically by a third party. Neither the service provider nor the domain owner maintain any relationship with the advertisers. In case of trademark issues please contact the domain owner directly (contact information can be found in whois).

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Worms At Work - 20 Days Time Lapse Of Vermicomposting

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First Grade students created a worm farm. The worms will make castings (worm poop) and then the kids will use the casting to plant a garden.

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Learn, Grow, Bloom - How to Build a Worm Farm

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This video is featured on http://mykidsturn.com. Jodi shows how much fun it can be to play with worms! She also demonstrates to parents how to build a worm farm that shows children how worms live underground.

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Are you looking for some fun facts about worms? We have a huge list below with nothing but worm facts for your knowledge or a school project.

Are you looking for some fun facts about worms? We have a huge list below with nothing but worm facts for your knowledge or a school paper.

Worms play an important role in creating rich soil that plants feed on to help them grow strong and bear lots of fruit.

This soil is called "worm castings", or in other words, "worm poop". It's called castings because the worm casts out its poop from its body.

There...These were your first fun facts about worms.

Worms do not have eyes but they posses what's called "receptor cells". This let's them know that they are in or too close to light. They don't like the light and will die if left in the sun light too long. They feel around with their sensitive skin and hairs on their body.

Worms do not have lungs. They breathe through their skin through the transfer of oxygen absorbed by their skin. Since they don't inhale they must remain wet at all times so the transfer of dissolved oxygen can take place. They coat themselves in mucous especially in dryer conditions to keep from suffocating.

3. Do worms smell?

Since I was joking about a bath, as a matter of more fun facts, the red wiggler in Latin is called Eisenia Fetida. Fetidameans nauseating, having a rotten or offensive smell, but honestly though, I've never even noticed much of a smell from them at all.

No, but they do have a mouth. Since they don't have teeth they suck food through their mouths by the use of a powerful pharynx. They have a gizzard much like a chicken and it helps them grind their food. This is why it's important for them to swallow minerals made from stone to help grind the food.

5. What's the ring in the middle of the worm?

This is called the clitellum (also called a saddle) and is actually located closer to the mouth or anterior end of the worm. The clitellum is responsible for producing the cocoon which will hold the embryo. This is where baby worms come from.

7. What are the little hairs called on it's body?

These little hairs are called "setae". These bristles enable a worm to cling to the walls of it's burrow and to move around easily on the ground or up a wall. That's why it can be so difficult to pull them out of their little holes. These tiny hairs are like Velcro. Okay onto more worm facts!
More Fun Facts About Worms & Their Reproduction

8. Can worms reproduce on there own?

Earthworms are hermaphrodites. This means that they are both male and female. They possess both male and female reproductive organs but it still takes two (to tango : ) to reproduce.

9. How do worms Reproduce?

Worms find each other usually in moist conditions where food is abundant. Conditions must be just right or worms will not reproduce for fear that their babies will not survive.

10. How are the cocoons created?

When it comes to worm facts, this is probably the most difficult to explain as well as visualize but here it goes anyway.

As the clitellum (thick band) slides forward it picks up ova from it's ovaries then picks up the semen packet . Thick mucous is produced by the clitellum during this process. It contains a nutritious substance to sustain the babies throughout the incubation period.

Depending on the species of worm the cocoons are usually the size of a grain of rice or slightly larger.

11. What does an adult worm look like?

Well it's a given, of course, that adults are bigger, but the only way to tell the difference between a young worm and an adult worm is by the clitellum.

If a worm has a clitellum (the thick band or ring) then you know that it's an adult.

More Fun Facts about Worms Coming Soon!

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Are you looking for some fun facts about worms? We have a huge list below with nothing but worm facts for your knowledge or a school project. Are you looking for some fun facts about worms? We have a huge list below with nothing but worm facts for your knowledge or a school paper.

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Worm Facts | The Adventures of Herman the Worm | U of I Extension

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Worms tunnel deeply in the soil and bring subsoil closer to the surface mixing it with the topsoil. Slime, a secretion of earthworms, contains nitrogen. Nitrogen is an important nutrient for plants. The sticky slime helps to hold clusters of soil particles together in formations called aggregates.

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Introduction
Have you ever dug a hole in the soil and noticed earthworms wriggling out of your way? Not only are earthworms good for birds and fish to eat, but these little animals actually work hard to help put food on your table, too. By adding nutrients to the soil they live in, earthworms are continually working to keep soil healthy so that most plants can grow well in it. To do their important work, earthworms prefer certain types of soils over others.

Background
Here's a riddle for you: What has five hearts, no eyes and helps feed all the people on Earth? The earthworm! This amazing animal is important for keeping soil rich in nutrients. Just as you need vitamins to stay healthy, such as the vitamin C you get from fruits and vegetables, plants need nutrients to grow properly as well-and they get them from the soil. The earthworm is able to transform dead plants and leaves (also called plant matter) into nutrients for the soil. Earthworms can make food for living plants from dead ones. They leave this food (the nutrients) behind in the soil where growing plants can absorb it.

In less than a day an earthworm can eat its entire weight in dead plant matter. So, for example, if you were an earthworm and weighed 50 kilograms, you'd need to eat about 50 kilograms of food every day! During this moving feast, an earthworm is also loosening and aerating (letting air get into) the soil to make it easier for many beneficial plants to grow in it.

Materials
* A cool area that is not brightly lit
* Measuring cups
* Dry sand (1.5 cups)
* Dry gravel (1.5 cups)
* Dead leaves, crumbled (1.5 cups)
* Dry potting soil (1.5 cups)
* Mixing bowl
* Spray bottle
* Water
* Spoon or fork
* Empty plastic box with a sealable lid, larger than a shoe box, but smaller than a laundry basket
* Earthworms (at least five); available at a bait shop; or use a small hand trowel or shovel to dig up earthworms from the ground (usually in shady, moist soil); or find them on the ground after it has rained
* A small container with a lid in which to hold the earthworms; put some damp soil and dead leaves inside the container for the worms, and keep them in a cool place until you are ready to do the activity

Preparation
* You can test this activity indoors or outside. Choose a location that is cool and in the shade (if you are testing outside) or in a dimly lit room (if you are testing indoors). If the plastic box is transparent, use an especially dark location, such as a closet.
* Put 1.5 cups of sand into the mixing bowl. Spray the sand with water (counting the squirts as you go) until it all feels wet, stopping before puddles of water appear; mix the moistened sand with a spoon or fork.
* Transfer the wet sand from the mixing bowl to one corner of the plastic box. Make sure the sand does not spill out over one quarter of the area of the bottom of the box.
* Rinse out and dry the mixing bowl. Spray the other "soils" (gravel, dried leaves and potting soil) in the mixing bowl (each separately) just as you did the sand. Use the same number of sprays of water for each soil type as you did for the sand. When each soil has been sprayed, transfer it in its own corner of the box. How wet does the sand feel compared with the gravel, dried leaves and potting soil?
* As you fill the four corners of the plastic box with the different "soils," make sure that none spill over and touch the other soils. Space the soils so that there is roughly two to five centimeters of space between the samples.

Procedure
* Place your plastic box in the cool, unlit area you chose. Check to make sure the soils are still separated and not touching one another.
* Place your five (or more) earthworms in the center of the box, in the middle of the four soil samples. Watch the earthworms for a minute or two. What do the earthworms do at first? How do they move? Do they follow one another? Did they all go into one soil or did they burrow into different soils?
* After watching them for a minute or two, close the lid on the box. Note what time it is. Let the earthworms stay undisturbed in the box for 24 hours.
* After 24 hours have passed, open the box. Do you see any worms outside of the soil?
* Carefully go through each pile of soil to look for the earthworms, moving the soil to another container or an empty part of the box. You may need to look very closely through the different soils to make sure you do not miss a small earthworm. Which soils have the most earthworms in them? Which soils have the least? Why do you think some of the soils hold more earthworms than others?
* Extra: Do earthworms stay in the soil in which they are put? Do this activity again but put one earthworm in each soil type. After 24 hours, is there still one earthworm in each sample, or are there more earthworms in one soil compared with another?
* Extra: Earthworms are blind, but they have special cells that can sense light. What kinds of light do earthworms avoid and what kinds do they not mind? Set up a box with damp potting soil in each corner. Cut out small holes in the box's lid at three corners. Put a small red-light flashlight pointing straight down above one corner, a small blue-light flashlight above another corner, and a small white-light flashlight above the third corner. Put an earthworm in the center of the box, put the lid on, and turn on all three flashlights. Which flashlight (or flashlights) does the earthworm go toward and which does it avoid? Did the earthworm try to stay away from all the lights or just certain colors? Do multiple earthworms behave the same way?

Observations and results
Were most of the earthworms in the leaves? Were some in the sand and potting soil? Were none in the gravel?

Earthworms eat dead plant matter, such as fallen leaves, and transform it into a nutritious substance that plants can absorb more readily. So, if they want a tasty meal, they would most likely be in the leaves. However, if there is organic matter (dead plant matter or animal matter, which they also eat) in the other soil types tested, the earthworms might be attracted to those soils as well. But just because an earthworm is in one of the soils does not mean that it is its ideal environment or that it wants to eat that soil. For example, you may find one or more earthworms in the gravel, but this could be due to factors other than the earthworm searching for a food source-the gravel's humidity, for example, might be more appealing or there may be possible chemoattractants on the gravel.

Besides adding nutrients to the soil, earthworms also keep the soil healthy by tunneling. As they eat, earthworms create tunnels that keep the soil open and full of paths for water and air. Without earthworms, the soil would be smashed down, or compacted, making it difficult for water and air to reach the roots of plants. Overall, it would be very hard to grow all the beautiful plants that give us oxygen and food without these wiggly, little creatures.

Cleanup
When you're done with this activity, gently and carefully return the earthworms to some soil outside.

More to explore
Ecology-Reproduction from WormWatch
Plant Nutrients from North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
Earthworms from Colorado State University Extension
Squirmy Wormy: Which Soil Type Do Earthworms Like Best? from Science Buddies

This activity brought to you in partnership with Science Buddies

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Squirmy Science: Which Soil Types Do Earthworms Like Best?

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Introduction Have you ever dug a hole in the soil and noticed earthworms wriggling out of your way? Not only are earthworms good for birds and fish to eat, but these little animals actually work hard to help put food on your table, too.

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Today's Wonder of the Day was inspired by jon. jon Wonders, " why are earthworms good in garden " Thanks for WONDERing with us, jon!

Do you think earthworms are cool creatures that are fun to play with? Or are they icky, creepy, crawlies that you'd rather avoid?

If you like to fish, you probably like them since they can help you reel in the big fish when used as . But what if you're a gardener?

Anyone who spends time in a garden will tell you earthworms are a gardener's best friends. In fact, earthworms may be the most important factor in the success of a garden. Some people even call earthworms "nature's first gardeners"!

If you've ever been around a farm in spring, you know that farmers need to the soil. Plowing breaks up the soil, allowing air and water to get to seeds and the of plants. Earthworms act like tiny plows when they live in a garden.

As earthworms move through the soil of a garden, they make tunnels. Just like plowing, these tunnels allow air and water to get to the of plants.

Without access to air and water, plants would not grow well, which is why you might notice that plants sometimes don't survive if the soil they're in is too dry and .

Just about all soil has earthworms. The better the soil, the more earthworms you'll find. There are four common types of earthworms you're likely to run into: night crawlers, garden worms, worms, and red worms.

As earthworms live their lives in the soil, they eat matter, such as dead leaves, grass clippings, and even dirt. After they their meal, earthworms produce that helps enrich the soil further.

Their waste - called "" when found on top of soil - helps gardens grow because it's rich in phosphorus , , , and . These are all important that help garden plants grow and stay healthy.

Gardeners who want to increase the number of earthworms in their garden soil can do so by adding more matter to their garden. leaves or grass clippings will draw more earthworms to their soil, and, in turn, the earthworms will enrich the soil with their tunnels and .

Scientist Charles Darwin once had this to say about the role of the lowly earthworm:

"The is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man's inventions; but long before he existed, the land was in fact regularly plowed and still continues to be thus plowed by earthworms. It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organized creatures."

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Today's Wonder of the Day was inspired by jon. jon Wonders, " why are earthworms good in garden " Thanks for WONDERing with us, jon! Do you think earthworms are cool creatures that are fun to play with? Or are they icky, creepy, crawlies that you'd rather avoid?

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A healthy worm farm is not rocket science, but it does require a little upkeep, writes Ben Elms.

On my rounds as Dr Compost, I get to talk to people all over the district about the composting they do at home. The number one complaint I hear is the failure of worm farms.

''Where did all my worms go?'', ''My worms just disappeared'', ''I killed all the worms'', ''The only things I'm farming are fat rats and mice'' ... I could go on and on with the quotes but with plenty of beeped-out expletives.

Worm farming isn't highly technical, but worms do require a little care and attention to keep them happy and eating your food scraps.

One of the biggest problems I find is the amount of food scraps getting out of synch with the growth of the worm colony. It goes something like this.

One day you get excited about starting composting. You want to keep food scraps and green waste out of the bin where they smell, and therefore the landfill where they can create methane and contribute to global warming.

You've decided a worm farm is the way to go. So far so good. You acquire a worm farm, either home-made or a store-bought model. The excitement builds and you introduce the worms. By now, you're almost frothing at the mouth.

Yes, worms can be that exciting. Finally, it's time to put your first food scraps in. Yeeha. Every day you take out more food scraps, and add them to the scraps already sitting in your worm farm.

The problem is, our friendly tiger worms are just settling in and they can't cope with the mass of food raining down on them. Tiger worms need time to settle in, increase their numbers and eat their way through the feast you're providing.

Once up and running, say after three months, your worm farm should be full-steam ahead. So in these first few months, hold back on the food.

You could consider using a parallel composting system to complement your worm farm (like Bokashi buckets) or you can just dig the food scraps straight into a trench in your vege garden while the worms play catch-up.

Starting with a good number of tiger worms at the beginning speeds the whole thing up. Half a kilogram of tiger worms is fine, 1kg is better.

Not all worms are equal when it comes to worm farms. We use tiger worms ( Eisenia fetida) here in New Zealand. They're different from earthworms as they've adapted to eating decomposing organic materials. You will rarely find them in the soil.

They prefer environments like a compost heap, a rotting straw bale or a pile of horse manure. Earthworms will often find their way to a compost heap but they don't have the same efficiency and effect as tiger worms. Vermicast (worm poo) is black gold for your garden.

You can use it anywhere and plants will love the biological goodness you are giving them. Add it to homemade seed-raising mixes, or use a handful when planting seedlings or as a side dressing for established plants and trees.

Dilute the vermiliquid (worm wee) 10 to one and use as a drench or foliar spray. The results will speak for themselves. Good luck and happy worm farming.

Ben Elms (aka Dr Compost) gives advice and runs workshops as part of the Dr Compost project to encourage home composting and reduce waste. He will be running composting workshops in Wanaka on May 2 and Queenstown on May 3. Visit www.wanakawastebusters.co.nz for more details.

Keep your worms happy

Don't overfeed.

Try strip feeding: place today's food next to yesterday's food and so on. Worms are less active in the cold winter months so feed them less then. Don't feed them citrus, onion peelings, liquids, oils or milk.

Chop up your food scraps.

Worms have small mouths. The more surface area the better. The happiest worms I've seen were fed the juicing pulp from a fresh juicer.

Try a little lime.

Once a month, add a sprinkle of lime to keep the pH in balance.

Little white worms everywhere can mean it's a little too acidic, so add some lime. If there are heaps of them, try adding some white bread then remove the bread and white worms the next day.

Don't fry or freeze your worms.

In summer, shade is good, a sunny spot works in winter. Place your worm farm under a deciduous tree or move them as it gets cold. You can chuck an old blanket or duvet over the farm if you get frosts.

Damp not wet

Keep an eye on moisture levels. The worm farm should be moist but not wet. Hotter times may require a light water sprinkle from time to time. If your worm farm has a perforated lid and is outside, cover it if you live in a rainy area.

Keep pests out

If you get little black midge flies (fruit and vinegar flies), cover the worms with an old damp tea towel or hessian sack. Rats and mice love worm farms, make sure yours is vermin-proof. Set traps if required.

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A healthy worm farm is not rocket science, but it does require a little upkeep, writes Ben Elms. On my rounds as Dr Compost, I get to talk to people all over the district about the composting they do at home.

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Worm farming is a fun way to turn your organic waste, like kitchen scraps, into rich fertiliser for your garden in the form of worm castings and worm tea. Worm farming is gaining recognition and popularity, with many schools and some businesses having them set up to recycle lunchtime scraps!

Shopping list: Worm farm, worm blanket or wool blanket, kitchen waste, and tiger worms.

Setting up your worm farm

1. Purchase a worm farm from your local DIY or garden centre, or check out some of the guides online to make your own.

2. Choose a shady position for your worm farm and ensure it is easily accessible to feed your scraps straight to the worms.

3. If you have purchased your worm farm, assemble as per the instructions.

4. Once you have your worm farm set up you need worms. You will need about 1000 (250g) worms to get started, and they can be purchased from a garden centre or DIY store, or if you know someone with a worm farm they may be willing to share!

5. Next you need some bedding material for your worm farm. Worm farm kits will usually supply coir brick. Other suitable bedding materials include: shredded newspaper, office paper or cardboard, brown leaves and straw.

6. Add some compost to help get your worm farm started.

7. Add the worms to the top tray and let them settle in.

Feeding your worms

8. Allow your worms a few days to settle into their new home then add a handful of food scraps to the surface area. Your compost worms will eat raw and cooked food and vegetable scraps from your kitchen. Coffee grinds, tea bags, dust from vacuum cleaners and soaked egg cartons can also be added. Chopping up scraps, or even blending them, will make it easier for the worms to eat your leftovers, quickly!

9. Avoid feeding meat, dairy products or bread as these can attract unwanted pests. Onions, citrus peel and tomatoes are very acidic, so are generally not added, however, small amounts can be used as long as they are well mixed in with other food.

10. As a rule of thumb worms eat approximately ½ their body weight in food, so if you start with 250g of worms, you can feed them approximately 125g of food a day.

11. Place a worm blanket or wool blanket on top of the worms to keep the worm farm moist and dark.

Using worm castings and worm tea

12. Worm farms generally have a tap so you can collect the worm tea in your watering can as it is produced. Water it down to the colour of weak tea before using on your garden.

13. While you can collect and use your worm tea at anytime, collecting the castings (or worm poo), will depend on how many worms you have and how active they are. Generally, once the worms have processed the food scraps in the lower tray, you can remove this tray to use the castings in your garden, or collect small amounts to use in potting mix or seed raising mix at other times.

Tui Tips:

The contents of your worm farm should feel like a damp sponge. If it is too dry, a spray of water on each layer should provide the moisture needed to keep worms in a stable environment.

If your worm farm collects rain, your worms could drown. Move it into a more sheltered position and add shredded newspaper to absorb excess water.

Click here for our guide to making your own compost >

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Worm farming is a fun way to turn your organic waste, like kitchen scraps, into rich fertiliser for your garden in the form of worm castings and worm tea. Worm farming is gaining recognition and popularity, with many schools and some businesses having them set up to recycle lunchtime scraps!

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No one knows how large they can grow - but giant, blind, glow-in-the-dark earthworms are wriggling a couple of metres beneath the surface around Auckland.

This 75cm-long specimen was a surprise discovery for the owner of the Ti Point Reptile Park in Warkworth, who came across the worm on his morning rounds of the grounds.

"It was just lying on the ground alongside the track in the bush, for some reason it had come out of its burrow," Ivan Borich said.

Specimens of Spenceriella gigantea are rarely seen live above ground.

In 40 years running the park, Mr Borich had never seen one.

"We've always known about them. In all these years we'd always liked to have seen one, but when they're that long and the clay ground's that hard it'd be impossible to get one out in one piece."

Entomologist Ruud Kleinpaste said that was because the worms were safe in the earth and knew it would be dangerous to venture out.

"If you come above the ground and you are 1.4 metres and, say, an inch or an inch and a half thick, you are a serious breakfast. And secondly, you can't crawl away quickly, you're not a snake. The fastest you can move is in your tunnels below the ground."

But this week's torrential rain would have driven this specimen out of its tunnels.

"When it rains really hard, their burrows can run full of water ... they don't want to drown, they don't have gills, they need oxygen to run through their skin. Also with downpours, you get slips which crush their tunnels," Mr Kleinpaste said.

These giant worms were much more common than people realised, he said.

This week's discovery was a star at the Reptile Park yesterday, and staff were keeping it in a bucket of soil.

Mr Borich said they wanted to hold onto it until nightfall so they could see whether it glowed in the dark before setting it free.

Mr Kleinpaste said it was a little-known fact that earthworms could glow.

"It's been reported that we have native earthworms that are fluorescent - why that would be I have no idea, because these things don't even have eyes."

SPENCERIELLA GIGANTEA
* Also known as North Auckland worm.
* Thought to be New Zealand's largest.
* No one knows how long it can grow.
* Can glow in the dark.
* Burrows through the earth in a network of tunnels.
* Has twice as many hairs as normal earthworms and feels "unshaven".

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No one knows how large they can grow - but giant, blind, glow-in-the-dark earthworms are wriggling a couple of metres beneath the surface around Auckland. This 75cm-long specimen was a surprise discovery for the owner of the Ti Point Reptile Park in Warkworth, who came across the worm on his morning rounds of the grounds.

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The next time you are standing on your back lawn enjoying the feel of grass between your toes, take a moment to thank the little guys. Yes: all those thousands of slimy, slithering earthworms busy going about their business under your feet.

New Zealand has more than 200 species of earthworms, of which only 17 are introduced - and scientists are still discovering new ones. Native earthworms have been in New Zealand for around 65.5 million years and were once found all over the country.

But it's the introduced interlopers that we see in our garden. When European settlers brought over plants and shrubs their earthworms stowed aboard in the soil, and their large wooden sailing ships used dirt in the hulls as ballast too. When this was no longer needed it was off-loaded at ports around the country and worms slithered happily into the newly broken-in land of smouldering tree stumps, bracken and freshly sown exotic pasture seed.

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Dr Trish Fraser is a senior soil scientist with Plant & Food Research, based at Lincoln University in Canterbury. Her research looks at worms as an indicator of soil health, and how different ways of farming - the use of irrigation, fertilisers and tillage, for example - can affect soil.

So what's actually happening down there? Trish explains: "When worms consume soil it goes down to their gizzards, where it's ground up into smaller parts then excreted as castes that you sometimes see in the soil. This process releases nutrients into the soil (and the plant's roots) that were previously not available. In some instances it improves the structure of the soil too; as the worms pass through they create burrows, which improves drainage."

Having lots of earthworms in your soil indicates that it is in good healthy condition. You can find between 7 to 12 million earthworms present under a hectare of healthy pasture soil in New Zealand!
THE FOUR EARTHWORM GROUPS
Where the worms feed, and how they improve the soil depends on the species. "A lot of people make the mistake of thinking they should move the worms that live in their compost heap to their garden," says Trish. "But they don't like it - there's not enough organic matter; it's best to leave stripy red worms in compost and vice versa - soil worms like eating soil, and surface-dwellers like eating organic matter."

Here are the four earthworm groups, and how to identify them.

1. Compost earthworms are the species we populate our worm farms with or find in our compost. They need a high level of organic material and the habitat must stay moist year-round.

These worms can consume their own body weight in food each day. They are ideal as a sustainable option for turning food waste and most paper waste into compost. They reproduce very quickly. These worms are relatively small in size and are bright red, often with thin stripes around their bodies.

2. Epigeic earthworms live on the surface of the soil under organic matter such as leaf litter and decaying plants. They feed on the leaf litter, turning it into friable soil. (You may notice that they have a darker body; this gives them protection from sun on the soil's surface.)

They do not live in burrows so, like composting worms, they need year-round moisture to thrive. Both composting and epigeic earthworms play a critical role in breaking down dead organic matter. When they eat it, it is broken down into smaller pieces, enabling beneficial soil bacteria and fungi to feed on it and release nutrients back into the soil.

3. Endogeic earthworms are the ones we gardeners are most likely to come across. They live in the soil in horizontal burrows. Some are very pale in colour.

These worms benefit our gardens by creating an intricate web of hollow burrows in the soil, which allow oxygen and water to come in and carbon dioxide to get out. They also allow for better plant root penetration leading to more stable trees and nutrient availability to growing plants. And these earthworms' faeces - better known as castings - also help to create a fine, friable structure to the soil.

4. Anecic earthworms make vertical burrows in the soil. They source leaves and other organic matter from the surface and pull this into their burrows. As they feed on all this organic matter they excrete it as castings around the entrance to their burrows.

If you have ever wondered where those small piles of soil that look like they've been squished out of a tiny tube of toothpaste and artistically mounded come from, the answer is anecic earthworms.
SIX COMMON WORMS IN KIWI GARDENS
1. Blue-grey worm (Octolasion cyaneum); endogeic; lives in topsoil, about spade depth. Fat, blue-grey body; yellow tip on tail; yellow ring on neck.

2. Grey worm (Aporrectodea caliginosa); endogeic; lives in and eats garden soil. Pink-grey body, dark pink head, up to 15cm long.

3. Tiger worm (Eisenia fetida); epigeic; lives in/eats organic matter, leaf litter and compost. Bright red body with yellow stripes, up to 13cm long.

4. Dung worm (Lumbricus rubellus); epigeic; lives in organic matter, especially cow pats. Brown body, red saddle, 3-10cm long.

5. Nightcrawler ( Lumbricus terrestris); anecic; lives up to 3m deep in soil in North Island. Very large (up to 30cm); red-brown body; flat tail.

6. Black-headed worm ( Aporrectodea longa); anecic; lives deep in soil, mostly in North Island. Large (9-12cm); dark grey-brown body.
DO A WORM SURVEY THIS WINTER
So how can you tell how many earthworms you've got? A lot of people will go worm-spotting at the wrong time of year, says Trish.

"You won't find many in the summer - it's too hot and too dry." This is when some worms are dormant; they burrow deep down, and you may find them when digging in deep soil, "They'll be all coiled up in knot, waiting for the rains to come again," she says. Other worm species don't have this ability, and instead leave their eggs behind ready to hatch when conditions are more conducive.

To assess the state of your garden worms, look for them instead in the middle of winter; July and August is when numbers are at their peak as it's cooler and wetter, so they're more active, says Trish.

The average garden has a number of different ecosystems in one small space. Lawns, ornamental beds, compost piles, worm farms and vegetable gardens all provide habitats for different species of earthworms.

Signs that you may not have a healthy population of earthworms could include animal manure or compost remaining on top of the soil; slow lawn growth; misshapen or stunted plant roots; water running over the surface of the soil; and defined layers of organic matter evident when you dig a hole.
For more like this, subscribe to NZ Gardener at mags4gifts.co.nz.
- NZ Gardener

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All worms are not equal: here's how to identify the ones in your garden

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The next time you are standing on your back lawn enjoying the feel of grass between your toes, take a moment to thank the little guys. Yes: all those thousands of slimy, slithering earthworms busy going about their business under your feet.

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Earthworms - Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand

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Darwin claimed that the lowly earthworm was one of the most important animals in the history of the world. He had discovered that these wriggling creatures break down organic matter and improve soil drainage and structure. New Zealand's pastures benefit from non-native worms, while the native species are now mostly confined to forests.

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New Zealand has over 200 known species of earthworms, with new species being identified as they are discovered. Of these, the majority are both native and endemic, meaning they are found in New Zealand and nowhere else. However, the earthworms we are most likely to encounter on rainy footpaths or in garden soil are introduced species.

Scientific classification

Native earthworms

Earthworms have been in New Zealand for a very long time. It is possible they were among the first animals to colonise the land but they are very slow to evolve. Scientists think earthworms came to New Zealand in two waves. The Acanthodrilidae family most likely arrived in the Cretaceous period (65-145 million years ago). This group of earthworms is almost entirely endemic, meaning they have been in New Zealand long enough to evolve into species not found anywhere else in the world. The Megascolecidae family probably arrived in the Tertiary period (1.8 million-65 million years ago). Although native, they are not endemic, meaning these species exist in other parts of the world.

Native earthworms were once widely distributed throughout New Zealand. They became highly specialised to live in particular types of forests, resulting in many different species. Most species have been unable to adapt when their forest homes have been converted into agricultural land such as pasture, and they have not survived in pastoral soils. Many native species are now confined to indigenous forests or areas where the soil is largely undisturbed. We don't know a lot about some of our native earthworms. Their life cycles, distribution ranges and environmental requirements are not well known. Some of this is due to the remoteness of forest habitats. The Department of Conservation lists about 170 native species of earthworm as threatened or endangered, partly because so little is know about them.

Native earthworms range in size from the smallest, Diporochaeta punctata - a tiny leaf mould dweller less than 2 centimetres long - to the largest, Spenceriella gigantea - a subsoil earthworm that can grow up to nearly 1.5 metres in length! Some of these native species were prized by pre-European Māori for their usefulness either as bait or as a food source. Noke waiū is a large, milky white earthworm found in the forest. It was threaded onto flax and looped to make an eel bob. The worms act as bait while the flax acts as a snare, becoming entangled in the eels' teeth. Transactions published by the Royal Society New Zealand in 1902 mention whiti and kurekure earthworms as food reserved for the chiefs because their sweet flavour was said to remain in the mouth for 2 days. Earthworm delicacies still feature in wild food festivals today.

Introduced earthworms

As far as is known, all of the species belonging to the Lumbricidae family arrived in New Zealand by accident. The earthworms arrived in a number of ways. For example, as European settlers brought plants into the country, earthworms or their cocoons were amongst the roots or in the soil. Soil was also used as ships' ballast. It was offloaded at ports when no longer required, and the earthworms began to spread out on their own accord. After noticing the pastoral improvement in areas where the lumbricid earthworms were present, some farmers began to deliberately introduce them to their land.

This is one instance where introduced species have had a positive effect in the New Zealand environment! Native earthworms do not generally live in cultivated soils so there is no competition or threat from introduced species in agricultural soils. The lumbricid species are the most common earthworms found in New Zealand, but their distribution is patchy. Scientists such as Dr Nicole Schon are trying to quantify the potential benefits of large-scale introductions of anecic lumbricid earthworms to pasture soils. They maintain permanent burrows that increase soil porosity and water infiltration. In addition, they incorporate organic matter deep into their burrows, potentially improving carbon storage in soil. This benefits the soil and may be a way to offset carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas) emissions.

Nature of science

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New Zealand has over 200 known species of earthworms, with new species being identified as they are discovered. Of these, the majority are both native and endemic, meaning they are found in New Zealand and nowhere else. However, the earthworms we are most likely to encounter on rainy footpaths or in garden soil are introduced species.

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Although earthworms have many common characteristics, species differ widely in their size, skin colour and the roles they play in the soil ecosystem.

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Charles Darwin is best known for his theory of evolution as set out in his book On the Origin of Species. He was a naturalist - an expert in geology, botany and biology - whose interest in all things natural was apparent from a young age. His father wanted Charles to follow in his footsteps and become a doctor. However, Darwin found he couldn't bear dissecting cadavers or watching surgery, so he quit.

His father remarked, "You care for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat-catching and you will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family."

Darwin, of course, went on to prove his father wrong and became one of history's most famous scientists.

Darwin's association and interest with earthworms came shortly after his famous voyage on the HMS Beagle. His uncle showed him a spot in his garden where he had spread ashes and lime several years before. Darwin was amazed to see how soil cast up by earthworms had buried the substances. He went home and began a series of earthworm experiments that would go for the next 40 years. Darwin conducted both lab experiments in his study and billiard room and field investigations in his extensive gardens. He published his findings in 1881 in a book titled The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms, with Observations of their Habits. The book sold 6,000 copies in its first year, selling faster than On the Origin of Species had when it was first published.

Charles Darwin was fascinated by earthworm behaviour. He experimented with different types of food, placing the food on pieces of tinfoil to make sure the earthworms did not accidentally come upon the food by burrowing from below. He recorded that they preferred wild cherry and carrots, that raw fat was preferred to raw meat and that, "judging by their eagerness for certain kinds of food, they must enjoy the pleasures of eating".

He tested their senses by exposing worms to lamps or candlelight and their sensitivity by holding "a poker heated to dull redness near some worms". Earthworms do not have ears, but Darwin still tested their sense of hearing. He used a metal whistle and had his son play his bassoon loudly. Darwin even shouted at the worms but found that, if care was taken that his breath did not strike them, they were indifferent to noise. The earthworms also remained quiet when set on a table close to a piano, which was played as loudly as possible. That all changed, however, when the earthworm pots were placed on top of the piano. Darwin noted that earthworms are extremely sensitive to vibrations.

Darwin was curious to know if such lowly creatures were intelligent. He spent considerable time observing how earthworms pulled leaves into their burrows. They plugged the burrow openings, in Darwin's opinion, to keep out chilled air. Darwin found they most often pulled leaves in by their tips, which is the most efficient method. When he substituted paper triangles for leaves, he noted the majority of earthworms drew them down their burrows by the apex. This led Darwin to state that worms have some degree of intelligence. He wasn't convinced that all earthworms were equal, though. He placed leaves on the surface of pots kept in a warm room. These worms worked in "a careless or slovenly manner ... they did not care about plugging up their holes effectually". Darwin covered the pots with nets and left them outdoors for several nights. He wrote, "and now, 72 leaves were all properly drawn in by their bases".

Darwin's book also chronicled early New Zealand earthworm research. He mentions that worms appear to act in the same manner in New Zealand as in Europe, referring to earthworms' ability to slowly cover objects left on the ground with their casts.

Nature of science

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Charles Darwin is best known for his theory of evolution as set out in his book On the Origin of Species. He was a naturalist - an expert in geology, botany and biology - whose interest in all things natural was apparent from a young age.

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Charles Darwin is well known for his work on natural selection. He published widely on topics ranging from barnacles to geology to plants. He travelled the world and saw many unusual animals. Near the end of his life in 1881, he wrote in The Formation of Vegetable Mould,

It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organised creatures.
Charles Darwin

Darwin, of course, was referring to earthworms.

Earthworms may lack the charm or excitement of more familiar animals, but their contribution to our world is significant. These 'lowly creatures' play a vital part within the natural soil ecosystem. They are also valued for their contribution to ecosystem services - ecosystem functions that are of direct benefit to humans through their action on soil processes.

Earthworm benefits to ecosystems

Earthworms are sometimes known as 'ecosystem engineers' because they significantly modify the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil profile. These modifications can influence the habitat and activities of other organisms within the soil ecosystem.

Earthworms influence (and benefit) the soil ecosystem in a number of ways:

Recycling organic material: Earthworms, along with bacteria and fungi, decompose organic material. Most people know about earthworms and compost, but earthworms do the same in pasture soils, decomposing dung and plant litter and processing 2-20 tonnes of organic matter per hectare each year, and recycling leaf litter under orchards and in other forested areas.

Increasing nutrient availability: This happens in two ways: by incorporating organic materials into the soil and by unlocking the nutrients held within dead organisms and plant matter. Nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen become more readily available to plants after digestion by earthworms and being excreted in earthworm casts. Scientists have measured up to five fold increases in nitrogen availability in earthworm casts compared to undigested soil. Earthworms also take nutrients down through the soil profile, bringing them into closer contact with plant roots.

Improving soil structure: Earthworm burrows alter the physical structure of the soil. They open up small spaces, known as pores, within the soil. When earthworms are introduced to soils devoid of them, their burrowing can lead to increases in water infiltration rates of up to 10 times the original amount. This brings water and soluble nutrients down to plant roots. Burrowing also improves soil aeration (important for both plants and other organisms living in the soil) and enhances plant root penetration.

Providing food for predators: Earthworms, like all creatures, are part of food webs. Birds are well known predators, but native earthworms are also food for endangered and endemic land snails.

Earthworm benefits to humans

New Zealand scientists have had a unique opportunity as far as earthworm research is concerned. Once land was cleared for production agriculture, native earthworms quickly disappeared. Unless non-native species of the lumbricid family were introduced to the area, earthworms were absent for periods of time. Scientists have been able to investigate the effects of introducing earthworms to pastoral lands and quantify the benefits they provide.

Earthworms provide these ecosystem services to humans:

Increasing pastoral productivity: Once lumbricid earthworms become established, pastoral productivity increases by 25-30%. This is equivalent to 2.5 stock units per hectare. Earthworms remove the surface thatch material that can block water from entering the soil, as the thatch can cause it (and soluble nutrients) to run off.

Facilitating and accelerating mine restoration: By increasing soil fertility, recycling waste products and providing food resources for predators, earthworms help to restore functioning ecosystems both above and below the ground.

Trish Fraser, a soil scientist and earthworm expert says, "The next time you see an earthworm struggling on the footpath, perhaps you will be kind to our little underground ally. Indeed, perhaps you will also think about the rest of the large army of earthworms working hard for us below the ground. Maybe then the important role that this underground army plays in our lives will be forgotten no more."

Nature of science

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Charles Darwin is well known for his work on natural selection. He published widely on topics ranging from barnacles to geology to plants. He travelled the world and saw many unusual animals. Near the end of his life in 1881, he wrote in The Formation of Vegetable Mould,

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Asking where earthworms live may seem like a silly question. Doesn’t their name say it all? Soil may appear to be a homogeneous place to you or me, but not to earthworms.

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Octochaetus multiporus is a deep-burrowing earthworm native to New Zealand. It grows up to 30 cm in length and emits bioluminescent fluid when disturbed.

Scientific classification

New Zealand has close to 200 native earthworm species, with new species still being identified. In spite of this richness in species, we don't know much about their population densities, life cycles or their distribution. We do know that, when native forest or tussock grasslands are cleared for agricultural development, native earthworms (especially the topsoil species) disappear. However, one species of native earthworm, Octochaetus multiporus, appears not to be as dependent on native vegetation and in some circumstances can successfully survive in modified habitats. Because of its relative abundance, O. multiporus has received more research attention than many other native species.

O. multiporus are anecic earthworms. They live in the subsoil to a depth of up to 3-5 metres. They are found throughout the southern half of the North Island, in the South Island east of the main divide and in Stewart Island. O. multiporus need moist soil conditions to survive. Their populations are greater in soils that slope away from the Sun and are absent at adjacent sites where the land slopes toward the Sun (soils that are likely to dry out in the summer). Because they live so far down in the soil, they are not as affected by habitat change as earthworms that live closer to the soil surface. O. multiporus make extensive burrow systems. They use mucus (coelomic fluid) to form a cement-like substance to line their burrows. This mucus not only helps to keep the burrow walls from collapsing, but it may also be part of the species' defence system because it is toxic to soil bacteria.

Physical characteristics

To the average person, most earthworms may look alike, but O. multiporus has a few characteristics that set it apart. First of all, it is a large earthworm species. O. multiporus can grow up to 30 cm in length and have a width of 8-10 mm in diameter. They are pale in colour with a translucent body wall. A purple streak runs along the dorsal (top) midline of their bodies. Mature specimens have a darker pink clitellum (saddle). Overall, O. multiporus have weakly developed muscles, with the exception of the muscles near the head and tail. These muscles are used for burrowing and simply to help such large earthworms move. Their movements are quite sluggish when compared to earthworms that live higher up in the soil profile.

O. multiporus is also unusual because it is bioluminescent. O. multiporus squirts out coelomic fluid from its mouth, anus and dorsal (underside) pores when it is disturbed. The fluid emits a bright orange-yellow light that glows in the dark. It has recently been discovered that the fluid glows in different colours depending on the age of the earthworm. Larger quantities of the luminescent liquid are produced if these earthworms are pierced. For this reason, Māori traditionally used O. multiporus as bait and lures when fishing. 'Herehere tuna' refers to a bunch of worms for catching eels.

Nature of science

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Octochaetus multiporus is a deep-burrowing earthworm native to New Zealand. It grows up to 30 cm in length and emits bioluminescent fluid when disturbed. New Zealand has close to 200 native earthworm species, with new species still being identified. In spite of this richness in species, we don't know much about their population densities, life cycles or their distribution.

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When you look at the world around you, how do you categorise or group what you see? One of the broadest groupings is 'living' and 'non-living'. This may sound simple, but it is sometimes difficult to decide whether something is truly alive or not. Here we look at the characteristics of living things - using earthworms as an example.

All living things share life processes such as growth and reproduction. Most scientists use seven life processes or characteristics to determine whether something is living or non-living.

The table below describes seven characteristics of most living things and contains references to earthworms to explain why we can definitely say that they are 'living'.

Further classification

Based on the information above, we can confidently categorise earthworms as living things as they carry out all seven life processes.

It is now possible to classify them further into a series of hierarchical categories: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. Classifying living things into these categories is an important way for scientists to show how living things are related to each other. Most scientists classify living things into one of the following six kingdoms.

Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms that don't have a nuclear membrane.

Protozoans are single-celled organisms that are generally much larger than bacteria. They may be autotrophic or heterotrophic.

Chromists are a diverse group of plant-like organisms and range from very small to very large. They are found in almost all environments.

Fungi are multicellular and rely on breaking down organic material as they are not able to make their own food.

Plants are multicellular and autotrophic - they use photosynthesis to produce food using sunlight.

Animals are multicellular. They are heterotrophic and rely on other organisms for food.

Which kingdom do you think earthworms belong to?

Animal characteristics

What did you decide? Sometimes people are surprised to find out that earthworms are actually animals - the same kingdom as humans, cats, dogs, dolphins and spiders! Just as living things share a set of common characteristics, animals have key characteristics that can help you to decide whether a living thing is an animal or not.

Key characteristics of animals include the following:

They obtain energy by consuming other organisms (we say they are 'heterotrophic').

They are able to physically move their bodies about at one or more stages of their life cycle.

Their bodies are made up of multiple cells.

Sexual reproduction occurs - a sperm and an egg cell combine to produce an embryo that grows into a juvenile animal.

Nature of science

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When you look at the world around you, how do you categorise or group what you see? One of the broadest groupings is 'living' and 'non-living'. This may sound simple, but it is sometimes difficult to decide whether something is truly alive or not.

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Adaptation is an evolutionary process whereby an organism becomes increasingly well suited to living in a particular habitat. Natural selection results in helpful traits becoming more common in a population. This occurs because individuals with these traits are better adapted to the environment and therefore more likely to survive and breed. The timeframes for different types of adaptation are variable - behavioural adaptation can be a very quick process whereas structural changes may occur over a very long period of time.

Adaptation is also a common term to describe these helpful or adaptive traits. In other words, an adaptation is a feature of an organism that enables it to live in a particular habitat.

Most species of earthworms share some common traits or adaptations, such as their streamlined body shape. However, different species of earthworms have adapted to different habitats and occupy different niches within the ecosystem. As a result, earthworm adaptations are many and varied. In all animals, types of adaptations can be grouped into three main categories: structural, physiological and behavioural.

Structural adaptations

Structural (or morphological) adaptations are the physical features of the organism. These include things you can see, like its shape or body covering, as well as its internal organisation.

These are some examples of structural adaptations of earthworms:

Each segment on an earthworm's body has a number of bristly hairs, called setae (sometimes written as chaetae). These hairs provide some grip to help the earthworm move through the soil.

An earthworm has a streamlined body with no antennae or fins or arms or legs! This streamlined shape is an adaptation to living in narrow burrows underground and the need to move easily through the soil.

An earthworm has circular muscles that surround each body segment. It also has longitudinal muscles that run the length of its body. These two groups of muscles work together to help the earthworm move.

In order to get food into its mouth, an earthworm pushes its pharynx out of its mouth to grasp hold of its food. It then pulls the food back into its mouth and wets it with saliva

Physiological adaptations

Physiological adaptations relate to how the organism's metabolism works. These adaptations enable the organism to regulate its bodily functions, such as breathing and temperature, and perform special functions like excreting chemicals as a defence mechanism.

These are some examples of physiological adaptations of earthworms:

Many earthworms secrete a mucus (coelomic fluid) that helps them to move more easily through the soil. In some burrowing species, this fluid forms a cement-like substance that lines their burrows to help keep the walls from collapsing. In the New Zealand native species Octochaetus multiporus, the mucus may also be part of its defence system as it is toxic to soil bacteria O. multiporus has another special adaptation - its mucus is bioluminescent! When it is disturbed, the O. multiporus earthworm squirts mucus from its mouth, anus and dorsal (underside) pores, and the fluid emits a bright orange-yellow light that glows in the dark.

When the environmental conditions in an earthworm's habitat change, for example, the soil becomes too hot or too dry, many earthworms become inactive in a process called aestivation. They move deeper into the soil, coil into a tight ball, excrete a protective mucus and lower their metabolic rate in order to reduce water loss. They will remain like this until conditions become favourable again.

Behavioural adaptations

Behavioural adaptations are learned or inherited behaviours that help organisms to survive.

These are some examples of behavioural adaptations of earthworms:

Earthworms cannot see or hear but they are sensitive to vibrations. Birds looking for food or humans collecting earthworms for bait stamp on or vibrate the ground in some manner, causing earthworms to move to the surface. Perhaps this is to escape from moles, whose primary food is earthworms. We don't have moles in New Zealand, but some people think that earthworms carry a 'memory' of this predator and still respond by leaving the ground.

Earthworms are sensitive to light. Most species spend their days in their burrows or in the soil or leaf litter. In general, you usually find them on the surface at night.

Earthworms lose moisture through their skin. They move out of their burrows to migrate or reproduce when the ground is wet with dew - one reason why we may see them in the early morning.

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Adaptation is an evolutionary process whereby an organism becomes increasingly well suited to living in a particular habitat. Natural selection results in helpful traits becoming more common in a population. This occurs because individuals with these traits are better adapted to the environment and therefore more likely to survive and breed.