Animal Kingdom

Ringed Worm Phylum: The earthworm

Earthworms live in soil all over the world. In Europe the biggest earthworms grow to 30 cm and a square meter of soil may be hiding 100,000 earthworms but most of these will only be a few millimetres long. The worms feed on the surface of the soil at night, eating dead and decaying leaves. They never let their tails leave their burrows so that they can quickly find their way home if a predator should arrive. As the earthworm makes its burrow it deposits the soil at the surface. In this way earthworms turn the soil over, improve the drainage of the soil and let air into the soil. Charles Darwin in 1881 estimated that earthworms make up to 5,5cm of new top soil per year.

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© Paul Billiet, Shirley Burchill, Alan Damon and Deborah James 2009