Most people already know that worms are hermaphrodites. This means that they have both male and female reproductive organs. However, they cannot reproduce alone. They must pair with another worm for successful reproduction to occur.
Researchers say the flatworm known as Macrostomum hystrix has one of the craziest reproduction systems ever conceived: In a pinch, it can plunge a natural hypodermic needle filled with sperm into its own head for self-insemination.
Although earthworms possess ovaries and testes, they have a protective mechanism against self fertilization and can only function as a single sex at one time. Therefore, they still need to mate with another worm in order to produce offspring.
Earthworm mating typically occurs after it has rained and the ground is wet. They emerge from the soil and jut out their anterior end. They wait for another earthworm to point in the opposite direction and then breed. The two worms join together, and a mucus is secreted so that each worm is enclosed in a tube of slime.
Earthworms are simultaneous hermaphrodites, meaning worms have both male and female reproductive organs. During sexual intercourse among earthworms, both sets of sex organs are used by both worms. If all goes well, the eggs of both of the mates become fertilized.
Almost all worms can regrow their tails if they are amputated, and many earthworms can lose several segments from their head end and they will grow back, the Washington Post reports. For some worms, however, the more segments that are cut off, the less likely they are to be fully regenerated.
If an earthworm is split in two, it will not become two new worms. The head of the worm may survive and regenerate its tail if the animal is cut behind the clitellum, according to The Washington Post.
To mate, worms lie with their ventral sides (underneath) together, and their heads pointing in opposite directions. They come into contact, and exchange sperm. This part of their bodies is covered with slime tubes, to protect the sperm.
But animals with simple nervous systems, like lobsters, snails and worms, do not have the ability to process emotional information and therefore do not experience suffering, say most researchers. "There are two types of animals, invertebrates and vertebrates," said Craig W.
A web site for fans of earthworms tackled the question recently: Yes, it is now accepted that worms feel pain – and that includes when they are cut in half. They do not anticipate pain or feel pain as an emotional response, however. They simply move in response to pain as a reflex response.
Asexual reproduction can also be undertaken by some species of earthworm. This involves a single earthworm producing young from unfertilised eggs and is known as parthenogenesis. 6. A mucus sheath is formed around the clitellum and is moved along the earthworm until it comes off the head end.
Sperm is passed from one worm to the other and stored in sacs. Then a cocoon forms on each of us on our clitellum. As we back out of the narrowing cocoons, eggs and sperm are deposited in the cocoon. After we back out, the cocoon closes and fertilization takes place.
Some animals can shift behavioral or biological features or totally change sex in some cases. In new work, scientists using the common research model C. elegans, a nematode worm, have identified a molecular switch in brain cells that toggles sex states when required.
In a study published in the Royal Society Open Science journal, a team details the case of female cichlid hybrid fish, a freshwater fish often kept in aquariums. The team noticed that the fish were able to impregnate themselves, producing healthy offspring who behaved -- and reproduced -- totally normally.
Animals that reproduce asexually include planarians, many annelid worms including polychaetes and some oligochaetes, turbellarians and sea stars.
Spontaneous parthenogenetic and androgenetic events occur in humans, but they result in tumours: the ovarian teratoma and the hydatidiform mole, respectively.
The worms have two types of auditory sensory neurons that are tightly connected to the worms' skin. When sound waves bump into the worms' skin, they vibrate the skin, which in turn may cause the fluid inside the worm to vibrate in the same way that fluid vibrates in a cochlea.
Researchers have found that they can communicate with each other using touch and taste. They can feel vibrations in the soil so they can avoid predators. There's even evidence to suggest that they like to travel in herds and follow a leader. Now, that would make for one serious wormhole!
Worms are ready to breed once they mature from 50 to 90 days. Earthworms are hermaphrodites; they can be male or female (a great advantage!). They can perform both male and female functions and mate every 7 to 10 days. The mating process takes around 24 hours.
Worms on a Hook Don't Suffer? OSLO (Reuters) - Worms squirming on a fishhook feel no pain -- nor do lobsters and crabs cooked in boiling water, a scientific study funded by the Norwegian government has found.
Certain species of earthworms surface to mate, but only a few of the 4,400 existing species, making it unlikely that mating is a primary reason for widespread surfacing.
An earthworm's lifespan depends on its environment. Those with a wholesome country lifestyle can live up to eight years, but those in city gardens generally last 1-2 years. They often die from changes in the soil (drying or flooding), disease or predators such as birds, snakes, small animals and large insects.
Do worms have brains? Yes, although they are not particularly complex. Each worm's brain sits next to its other organs, and connects the nerves from the worm's skin and muscles, controlling how it feels and moves.
Worms can live as long as four years. When worms die in the bin, their bodies decompose and are recycled by other worms, along with the food scraps. Worm castings are toxic to live worms. After all the food scraps in a bin are recycled, the worms will eat their own castings which will poison them.