Earthworms took over Tartu ...

Photographed by mobile in Tartu by Kristel Vilbaste, loodusenaine@hot.ee
Translation: Liis
 
Common earthworm    Harilik vihmauss      Lumbricus terrestris
 
... on Tuesday, and Jõgeva likewise, Vello Keppart reported. Oh, how desperately this rain was needed in nature, and after that a reasonably warm night.
 
We have thirteen earthworm species in Estonia and the one above is one of the best known of them. A large specimen can be more than 25 centimetres long. Thursday’s rain filled their tunnels in the dry ground with water (the soil was so dry that it did not absorb water) and the worms had difficulties in breathing. They had to come to the surface to breathe. Of course birds and animals did not leave such an excellent ”hunting opportunity” unexploited. The migrants urgently needed a little “overeating” to gather strength for the nesting  …
 
Our earthworms are oligochaetes, ”few-hair-worms”: their segmented body with circular muscles has 4 pairs of hairs or bristles, setae, on each segment, assisting them in moving in the soil, in addition a slimy skin. If an earthworm is placed on a paper the setae make an audible rustling sound on moving.
 
In the soil they feed on plant debris which after digestion is excreted from the hind end of the body as already valuable soil. On examining a ground surface closer we can notice small soil heaps  - often these can be faeces that have passed the intestines of the earthworm and mark the worms’ tunnels on the soil surface.
 
Extremely useful creatures …. …  


 

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