Hobbies And Interests
Decomposer
Earthworms are decomposers, which means they feed on decomposing organic vegetable matter found in soil. As the earthworm moves through the soil, feasting on whatever is rotting in the soil, it is creating little tunnels and holes where it goes, introducing air into the soil, improving soil quality. Earthworms help keep the soil fertile, which keeps plants growing well and the animals that eat the plants well-fed. This is directly beneficial to humans and their food supply.
About Earthworms
There are 1,800 species of earthworms on the planet. American earthworms can get as big as a foot long. Earthworms move through the soil by lengthening and shrinking their bodies to propel them forward. Earthworms are simple beings without an exoskeleton or shell to protect them and no interior skeleton. They are made completely of muscle and, for this reason, they are extremely flexible. Earthworms can survive in oxygenated water as evidenced by their above-ground presence after a rain storm.
Anatomy
An earthworm does not have a nose, eyes, ears or brain. The earthworm is made up of muscles and a nervous system, which responds to external factors like other worms, vibrations and temperature. An earthworm does has five basic hearts that pump blood but does not have lungs. Instead, the blood that is closest to the worms skin absorbs oxygen and dispels carbon dioxide back through the worm's skin, releasing the carbon dioxide into the air.
Reproduction
Just like every other creature on the planet, earthworms reproduce. Earthworms have both male and female sex organs, but they can not fertilize their own eggs. They need a partner. Earthworms will meet head to head and pass sperm from one to the next. The earthworm that received the sperm then deposits the cocoon containing the earthworm baby into or on top of the soil and leaves it to develop. After about three weeks, the earthworm progeny emerges.