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Meet the earthworm
Earthworms pull leaves underground, mix and aerate soil, and their casts are packed with nutrients plants need.
🏡 Soil almost everywhere there's moisture and leaves.🍽️ Decaying leaves, roots and soil microbes.⏳ 1–8 years depending on species.🛡️ Healthy soils depend on worms; heavy chemicals and compaction reduce their numbers.
Friends and family
Worms respond to vibrations from each other and from rain — and from birds tapping.
Earthworms lay tiny cocoons that hatch baby worms ready to burrow.
How they talk
Mostly chemical trails and touch.
How clever are they?
Worms learn to avoid places where they've had a bad experience.
What they feel
Worms have simple nervous systems and respond quickly to harm.
Superpower: Soil factory
Worms can process their own body weight in soil every day.
🤓 Did you know?
- Darwin studied worms for 39 years.
- Worms can eat their own body weight in soil each day.
- Worms have no lungs — they breathe through their skin.
Living alongside people
A wormery turns kitchen scraps into compost — an easy home project.