They can survive in dry soils but they are not active. However if the drought is severe, they will die. In dry conditions, they can burrow deep into the soil to 1 metre, tie themselves in a knot, secrete a coating of mucous about themselves which dries and helps prevent water loss.
When the weather gets cold and the soil starts to freeze, earthworms move deeper down and overwinter in a state called aestivation. To aestivate, the earthworm generates a natural antifreeze and then curls up in a little knot. Earthworms also aestivate when conditions become dry or hot.
If attacked by a predator, a worm can twist about wildly in an effort to free itself, and it might be able to produce an odor that will turn off its attacker. These are last-minute defenses that probably won't work.
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.
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.
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.
But only the half with the saddle (which the worm needs for reproduction) survives. The other half keeps moving because the nerve endings take a while to stop firing.
Earthworms (Lumbricus terristris) are annelids and have a very simple nervous system, with a single nerve cord running the length of the body and side branches for each segment and no brain. If an annelid is cut in two, they can regenerate to some degree, and in some species you can even end up with two worms.
(Learn more about creating a worm composting bin.) Earthworms are hermaphrodites, meaning an individual worm has both male and female reproductive organs. Earthworm mating typically occurs after it has rained and the ground is wet. They emerge from the soil and jut out their anterior end.
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.
Most earthworms can lose several segments from their head and grow them back. With the red wiggler, a worm often used in composting, the more head segments lost, the less likely they will be fully regenerated.
They discovered that all of the species could regrow an amputated tail, “but surprisingly few could regenerate a complete head,” the scientists wrote in the study. (All of the headless worms did survive for weeks or months after their decapitation, however.)
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.
Worms can eat their body weight in food each day. Worms huddle together. Sometimes it's just because they are all dining at the same restaurant and heading for the same food. Sometimes it's because worms mate.
All worms are not asexual. For instance, earthworms are hermaphroditic organisms. Hermaphrodite is an individual that has both male & female reproductive organs. However, worms without sexual organs reproduce through fission.
The head of the worm may survive and regenerate its tail if the animal is cut behind the clitellum, according to The Washington Post. But the original tail of the worm will not be able to grow a new head (or the rest of its vital organs), and will instead die.
Earthworm possess 5 pairs heart. Earthworms do not have a genuine heart because they are worms, but they do have aortic arches, which connect ventral and dorsal veins and pump blood.
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.
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.
Earthworms are unable to drown like a human would, and they can even survive several days fully submerged in water. Soil experts now think earthworms surface during rain storms for migration purposes.
Worms don't bite. They also don't sting. 3. They are cold-blooded animals, which means they don't maintain their own body heat but instead assume the temperature of their surroundings.
Heartbeats: Worms don't have just one heart. They have FIVE! But their hearts and circulatory system aren't as complicated as ours -- maybe because their blood doesn't have to go to so many body parts. Moving around: Worms have two kinds of muscles beneath their skin.
Although worms can't survive freezing temperatures, they lay eggs that are encased and protected by very small cocoons. They can survive through winter to emerge as tiny baby worms, once temperatures warm up again.
Earthworms do not have any eyes, ears, teeth or lungs. Don't be fooled though, they make up for it with the interesting aspects they do have. Like five hearts that squeeze two blood vessels to push blood throughout their little bodies.