worm, n.Trivia

Earthworms are hermaphroditic, containing both male and female organs

There can be more than a million earthworms in one acre of land

Earthworms are cold-blooded

Earthworms mate by joining their clitella (swollen area near the head of a mature worm) with another worm's clitella and exchanging sperm. Then each worm forms an egg capsule in its clitellum

Charles Darwin was obsessed with earthworms and spent 39 years studying them

Earthworms eat their weight in food each day

The earthworm is eyeless, but is able to sense light and avoids it

There are approximately 2,700 different kinds of earthworms

Worms have five pairs of hearts

Earthworms need to stay moist. If their skin dries out, they die

The tunneling of earthworms deeply in the soil brings subsoil closer to the surface, thereby mixing it with the topsoil

The largest earthworm on record, discovered in South Africa, measured 22 feet

Earthworms have no arms, legs or eyes

Earthworms are useful in that their secreted 'slime' contains nitrogen and also holds clusters of soil particles together in formations called aggregates

Earthworms can replace lost segments, even, in some circumstances, the head