In Which Way The Earthworms Eat?
The earthworms have been rated the most important animals in the world. Of course important from the point of view of human beings. The activity of earthworms prepares the soil in vegetation on which the life depends.
Earthworms turn the soil over and break it up by eating it. In a single acre of garden, the worms in it will pass about 20 tones of soil through their bodies in a year. The worms allow air and water get on to the plant roofs. They turn under decayed plant and animal matter and they ‘even’ plant seeds. This is done when they drag leaves into burrows and pull fine seeds from trees and plants below the surface.
The measure of earthworms is called “Worm casts”. It contains lime that enriches soil. We can feel its importance based on the scientific discoveries carried out in the Nile valley. This region is considered the most fertile one on the earth. Estimates reveal that about 130 tones of earthworm castings are deposited on each acre in the Nile valley, and this is the real reason why this region has been fertile in hundreds of years.
There are so many earth worms in the soil of the United States that if weighed they would equal more than 10 times the human population.
The body of an earthworm is composed of two tubes, one inside another. The inner tube is the digestive system. When the worm wants to eat, it turns its throat inside out and pushes it forward to grip some dirt. Then draws the dirt back into the tube with its throat muscles. The dirt first goes into a storeroom called “crop” and later into the gizzard. Grains of sand helps the worm grind up the soil. After digestion, the dirt is pushed from the body as “casting”.
An earthworm has no eyes. It does have “sense-cells”, on the outside of its body. The worn can tell light from darkness and also feel the lightest touch. The earthworm breathes through its skin.
Earthworms live in fine, moist soil. They cannot sustain wet sand. They come up at night. During winters they curl up into a ball and sleep. The worm appears on surface only when in search of a new home or a better feeding ground. They can not live in sunlight.
