Look After Those Earthworms!

Earthworms play a crucial role in improving soil quality, and every farmer should try to maintain a healthy population of these remarkable creatures.

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Earthworms play a crucial role in improving soil quality, and every farmer should try to maintain a healthy population of these remarkable creatures.

Look after those earthworms!

Earthworms are long, segmented worms belonging to the phylum Annelida. More than 2 000 species have been identified to date, and 300 of these have been recorded in South Africa.

A mature earthworm has a clitellum (a belt-like swelling) that forms part of its reproduction system. It contains both male and female reproductive organs, but cannot fertilise itself.

Copulation takes place at night on the soil surface. The worms press their bodies together and exchange sperm before separating. Later, the clitellum produces a ring of mucus around the worm. As the worm crawls out of the ring, it fills the ring with eggs and sperm.

The ring then drops off and becomes a cocoon for the developing eggs. Each cocoon produces up to 18 earthworms. The tiny immature worms emerge from the eggs fully formed. They develop sex organs within the first two or three months of life and reach full size in about a year.

Earthworms are classified into three groups according to their behaviour and habitat:

Epigeic earthworms do not tunnel, but live on the soil surface, where they feed on decomposing plant and animal material.