Common Earthworm

Lumbricus terrestris

SIZE AND DESCRIPTION

Length 90–300mm. Bright pink to reddish-brown, sometimes with a violet tinge. Consists of about 150 segments with a reddish-orange citellum on segments 33–36. (The citellum is the armband-like swollen part on a fully grown worm’s body, which produces cocoons in which the worm’s embryos develop.) The largest of about 10 earthworm species found in British gardens.

HABITAT

Occurs across most of Europe in any soil that is not too wet or too acid.

FOOD AND HABITS

Swallows soil and digests any organic material that it needs, expelling the rest.

SIMILAR SPECIES

Angler’s Red Worm (L. rubellus). 25–140mm long. Bright red-brown with a citellum on segments 28–31. Habitat and feeding as for Common Earthworm.

Blue-grey Worm

Octolasion cyaneum

Length 40–180mm. Greyish-blue with a red citellum on segments 29–33 or 30–34. There are 150–165 body segments. Yellowish tail. Widespread in moist soils throughout Europe. Feeds beneath the soil on decaying material. Emits a thick milky fluid when disturbed.

Brandling Worm

Eisenia foetida

Length 35–130mm. Red or purplish-brown with pale rings on each segment. Common in compost heaps and under rotting fallen tree trunks in much of Europe except far north. Feeds on richly organic material and is used in compost bin wormery. Emits a pungent yellow liquid when handled.

Chestnut Worm

Lumbricius castaneus

Length 30–70mm. Brown with a bright orange clitellum on segments 29–32. Widespread in Europe where soil is suitable. Absent from Spain and Portugal. Behaviour similar to that of Common Earthworm.

Turgid Worm

Allolobophora nocturna

Length 90–180mm. Dark reddish-brown becoming purplish towards the rear end. Body has 200–246 segments. Found across most of Europe in any soil that is not too wet or too acid. Not as widespread as Long Worm (opposite). Swallows soil and digests organic material. Nocturnal.

Long Worm

Allolobophora longa

SIZE AND DESCRIPTION

Length 90–170mm. Clitellum covers 8–9 segments between segments 27–36. Body has 170–190 segments.

HABITAT

Widespread throughout Europe in gardens, on cultivated land and in woodland, on chalky or loamy soil.

FOOD AND HABITS

Swallows soil, taking from it what it needs, and expelling the rest in the form of worm casts, which are often visible on the surface. In doing so it breaks up the soil, and helps to make it more fertile.

Thunderworm

Mermis nigrescens

Length to 50 cm. Looks like a piece of brown or white cotton. Body not segmented. Occurs in soils across Europe, but more common in south than in north. Lives in soil, but emerges after rain and twines itself around low-growing plants. Female lays eggs on plants, which are eaten by insects. Young worms hatch inside insect and feed on its fluids, emerging on maturity to live in soil. Host is weakened but not necessarily killed.

Earthworm

Octolasion lacteum

Length 25–160mm. Bluish with an orange or pink clitellum on segments 30–35. Body has 100–135 segments. Found under stones and logs, decaying leaves and compost in pasture, arable land and gardens. Widespread in southern and western Europe. Feeds beneath soil on decaying material.

Potato Root Eelworm

Globodera rostochensis

SIZE AND DESCRIPTION

Length to 30mm. Whitish nematode (roundworm). Males and juveniles of both sexes are mobile and threadlike. Also called Cyst Nematode and Root Nematode.

HABITAT

Farmland and gardens where potatoes are grown. Probably originated in Peru.

FOOD AND HABITS

After fertilization, females transform into spherical cysts 0.1–0.8mm across. This happens when the eggs develop and cause the body of the female to swell. She then becomes a cyst and dies. Each cyst contains 200–1,000 eggs, which can survive for up to 20 years in the cysts. New cysts are glossy brown and rounded; they pass through a yellow stage before rupturing. Hatching is favoured by humidity and a substance secreted by the host plant.