3. Classification of earthworms

The genus of “worms” used in vermitechnology, which combines species of dung, earthen and many others, belongs to the rain family (Lumbricidae), the order of the higher oligochaetes (Lumbricomorpha), the class of oligochaetes (Oligochaeta), the subphylum of the worms (Clitellata), the type of annelids (Annelida), subkingdom multicellular, animal kingdom. However, the systematic division of the earthworm family, according to the major taxonomist of these animals T.S. Perel (1979), presents a difficult problem.

V.G. Matveeva and T.S. Perel (1982) note that based on the vertical distribution of earthworms in the soil, they are divided into three ecological groups:

Surface-dwelling, including in composts - Eisenia foetida, Dendroboena oktaedra, Lumbricus castaneus, etc.;

Soil-litter Lumbricus rubellus, Eisenia nordenekioldi, etc.;

Burrowers - Lumbricus terrestris, Dendroboena platura, living in deep layers of soil.

The most common types of earthworms are the following (see Fig. 2):

Rice. 1. Types of earthworms

1. The tetrahedral earthworm (Eiseniella tetraedra) is 3 - 5 cm in length; its middle and rear parts of the body are noticeably tetrahedral. It is found only in very damp places (in damp moss, in damp soil near water bodies).

2. The stinking earthworm (Eisenia foetida) is 6 - 13 cm in length; got its name for the specific unpleasant odor it emits. Characteristic sign: red or brown rings on each segment - and the grooves separating the segments are light. It is found mainly in manure heaps and in rich garden soil.

3. The yellowish-green earthworm (Allophora chlorotica) is 5 - 7 cm in length. Its color can be different: yellowish, greenish, reddish. Lives in both slightly moist and very damp soil (in gardens, river bank cliffs), and in rotting foliage.

4. The reddish earthworm (Lumbricus rubellus) is 7 - 15 cm in length. The dorsal side is reddish-brown and purple with a pearlescent tint. This is a typical inhabitant of more or less moist humus soil, usually at shallow depths.

5. Ground or common earthworm (crawl) (Lumbricus terrestris) is 9 - 30 cm in length; very widespread, especially common in clay soils. On wet nights it crawls to the soil surface for plant remains.

The famous red Californian worms (or “red hybrid”) were patented by the American doctor Barrett in 1959 as a new breed of worms, which he bred on special plantations, and then applied the soil they processed (along with the worms) to garden crops. The result of this introduction was sharp increase vegetable yields and a noticeable improvement in their taste.

The red Californian worm differs from other species in its ability to process all types of organic matter, as well as its very high fertility (more than 100 times) and longevity (4 times) compared to “savages”. The lifespan of California worms is 16 years or more.

In two months, a population of Californian worms of 30 - 50 thousand individuals (biomass about 4 kg/sq. m) is capable of processing on each square meter special plantations 300 - 400 kg of bedding manure, turning it into a highly fertile humus fertilizer. Also, the biomass of live worms is a valuable natural food for poultry and animals, and pond fish. In addition, valuable protein flour (protein content is about 70%) and canned food for domestic animals and fur-bearing animals are prepared from worms.

Animal Biology

Animal Biology

Similarities between arthropods and annelids consists in such features as body segmentation, abdominal nerve chain, and the presence of a circulatory system. Also related and descended from ancient annelids. Their differences are...

Animal Biology

Comparison of the structure of body systems in three types of animals. Body system Animal type Roundworms Annelids Arthropods Digestive Sections: anterior, middle and posterior...

Hawthorn botany

Features of earthworms

earthworm life activity morphological At the anterior end they have a small movable head lobe (prostomium), devoid of eyes, antennae and palps. The segments of the body are externally identical, their number is usually large (from 30 - 40 to 600)...

Features of earthworms

Earthworms make up from half to three quarters of the total biomass of soil invertebrates and do a tremendous job of healing and improving the soil; truly they are “soldiers of the invisible front”, whose work goes unnoticed...

Prions ("slow infections")

Mammalian prions are the causative agents of spongiform encephalopathy ICTVdb Code Disease Carrier Prion name PrP isoform 90.001.0.01.001. Scrapie Sheep and goats Prion scrapie OvPrPSc 90.001.0.01.002...

Variety of snakes

Kingdom: Animals - Metazoa Phylum: Chordata - Chordata Class: Reptiles - Reptilia Subclass: Squamate - Squamata Order: Snakes - Ophidia Infraorder: Alethinophidia Superfamily: Booidea Superfamily: Colubroidea Infraorder: Scolecophidia Superfamily Typhlopoidea Booidea: Roll snakes...

Diversity of sea inhabitants: snails and shells

More than 400 modern families and about 200 extinct ones are known. In old systems, 4 subclasses of gastropods were distinguished: Opisthobranchia (opisthobranchia) - pteropods Gymnomorpha (shellless) Prosobranchia (prosobranchia) - sea limpets...

Genus: Garnet

Domain: Eukaryotes (Eukaryota) Kingdom: Plants (Plantae) Division: Flowering or Angiosperms (Magnoliophyta) Class: Dicotyledons (Dicotylеdones) Order: Myrtales (Myrtales) Family: Derbennikov (Lythrbceae) Subfamily: Pomegranates (Punicoideae) Genus: Pomegranate...

Poppy family

Domain: Eukaryotes Kingdom: Plants Division: Flowering Class: Dicotyledons Order: Ranunculaceae Family: Poppy Genus: Poppy Poppy (lat. Papaver) is a genus of herbaceous plants of the Poppy family (Papaveraceae). The milky sap of poppies is called "opium"...

Type flatworms

In all flatworms, the body is elongated and flattened in the dorsoventral direction. The anterior and posterior ends are clearly distinguished. Many free-living worms have tentacle-like projections at the anterior end that carry sensory organs...

Earthworms belong to the phylum Annelidae, the Subphyllum Clitellata subphylum, the Classis Oligochaeta class, the Ordo Lumbricomorpha order, the Familia Lumbricidae family...

Disposal of industrial waste using vermicompost (a waste product of Californian red worms)

According to the ecological features, earthworms can be divided into two types: the first includes worms that feed on the soil surface, the second - those that feed in the soil. In the first type, litter worms can also be distinguished...

Disposal of industrial waste using vermicompost (a waste product of Californian red worms)

The influence of earthworms on soil aeration and drainage. The presence of earthworm tunnels in the soil changes its properties. Worms create favorable conditions for air and water to penetrate into the soil...

The genus of “worms” used in vermitechnology, which combines species of dung, earthen and many others, belongs to the rain family (Lumbricidae), the order of the higher oligochaetes (Lumbricomorpha), the class of oligochaetes (Oligochaeta), the subphylum of the worms (Clitellata), the type of annelids (Annelida), subkingdom multicellular, animal kingdom. However, the systematic division of the earthworm family, according to the major taxonomist of these animals T.S. Perel (1979), presents a difficult problem.

V.G. Matveeva and T.S. Perel (1982) note that based on the vertical distribution of earthworms in the soil, they are divided into three ecological groups:

Surface-dwelling, including in composts - Eisenia foetida, Dendroboena oktaedra, Lumbricus castaneus, etc.;

Soil-litter Lumbricus rubellus, Eisenia nordenekioldi, etc.;

Burrowers - Lumbricus terrestris, Dendroboena platura, living in deep layers of soil.

The most common types of earthworms are the following (see Fig. 2):

Rice. 1.

1. Earthworm tetrahedral(Eiseniella tetraedra) is 3 - 5 cm in length; its middle and rear parts of the body are noticeably tetrahedral. It is found only in very damp places (in damp moss, in damp soil near water bodies).

2. smelly earthworm(Eisenia foetida) is 6 - 13 cm in length; got its name for the specific unpleasant odor it emits. A characteristic feature: red or brown rings on each segment - and the grooves separating the segments are light. It is found mainly in manure heaps and in rich garden soil.

3. Earthworm yellowish green(Allophora chlorotica) is 5 - 7 cm in length. Its color can be different: yellowish, greenish, reddish. Lives in both slightly moist and very damp soil (in gardens, in river bank cliffs), in rotting foliage.

4. Earthworm reddish(Lumbricus rubellus) is 7 - 15 cm in length. The dorsal side is reddish-brown and purple with a pearlescent tint. This is a typical inhabitant of more or less moist humus soil, usually at shallow depths.

5. Ground or common earthworm(creep) (Lumbricus terrestris) is 9 - 30 cm in length; very widespread, especially common in clay soils. On wet nights it crawls to the soil surface for plant remains.

The famous red Californian worms (or “red hybrid”) were patented by the American doctor Barrett in 1959 as a new breed of worms, which he bred on special plantations, and then applied the soil they processed (along with the worms) to garden crops. The result of this application was a sharp increase in vegetable yields and a noticeable improvement in their taste.

The red Californian worm differs from other species in its ability to process all types of organic matter, as well as its very high fertility (more than 100 times) and longevity (4 times) compared to “savages”. The lifespan of California worms is 16 years or more.

In two months, a population of Californian worms of 30 - 50 thousand individuals (biomass about 4 kg/sq. m) is capable of processing 300 - 400 kg of bedding manure on each square meter of a special plantation, turning it into a highly fertile humus fertilizer. Also, the biomass of live worms is a valuable natural food for poultry and animals, and pond fish. In addition, valuable protein flour (protein content is about 70%) and canned food for domestic animals and fur-bearing animals are prepared from worms.

The body of the earthworm is round in shape; the length of most representatives of this genus is no more than 15 centimeters, occasionally more than twenty, and the length of the largest is slightly more than thirty centimeters.

Consists of 100-180 segments. The segments have small, fairly elastic bristles that are practically invisible, but if you run your finger from the rear tip to the front, you can immediately feel it. The worm needs bristles so that it can cling to uneven ground surfaces while moving.

On the front of the worm's body there is a small thickening that serves as the place where the genital organs are located. The cells located in this thickening are activated during reproduction to lay eggs. If you look closely, you will notice that the belly of the earthworm is somewhat lighter than the rest of the parts. The worm has not only a circulatory system, but also a nervous and tactile system. digestive system.

What environment do earthworms live in?

During the daytime, worms prefer to stay in the soil of the swarm, with passages in it. Light soil, the worm drills with its front tip. To do this, he first compresses the front part so that it becomes thinner, and tries to push it forward between the soil lumps. Subsequently, the front tip becomes thicker, the lumps move apart, and the worm pulls up the back part. In hard soil, raincoats make passages for themselves, passing them through the intestinal tract. Earthen heaps are often visible on the surface of the earth - these are traces of the night activity of worms. They emerge from their burrows after heavy rainfall (that’s why they are called rainfall). In the summer, worms prefer to stay in the upper layers of the soil, and in the winter, to escape the cold, they dig holes, the depth of which can be more than two meters.

As the temperature drops, they become less active and their circulatory system circulates more slowly.

Taking a worm in your hands, you will find that its skin is moist, and it itself is covered with mucus, which makes it easier to move in the ground. Apart from this, only through the moist skin does the oxygen required for respiration find its way into his body. This is how the worm breathes.

Directly below skin There are circular muscles fused with it, and longitudinal ones underneath them. Those. An earthworm is a kind of skin-muscular sac. Thanks to the circular muscles, the body of the worm becomes thinner and longer, and thanks to the longitudinal muscles, it shortens and thickens. Due to the alternate functioning of these data, the muscle and the worm move.

How does an earthworm work?

The structure of an earthworm, when compared with the organisms of other animals, is quite primitive, but it has quite interesting features. Under the skin-muscular pouch there is a fluid-filled cavity of the body, and in it there are internal organs. When compared with worms belonging to the round type, the body cavity roundworm, divided by partitions, the number of which is equal to the number of segments. They have their own separate walls and are located under the skin-muscular pouch.

Now let's take a closer look at all the available organs of the worm.

Digestive system

The earthworm's mouth is located at the front. The puffball prefers rotting vegetation, swallowing it with soil. Likewise, he often drags fallen leaves into his hole. Swallowing is accomplished through the pharynx. Next, the food ends up in the intestines. Food that has not had time to be digested comes out through the anus located at the back. This is how the digestive system works in almost all types of worms. The worm also needs its mouth in order to drag various small objects to which it simply sticks. As you can see, the digestive system is quite primitive and lacks the organs that higher beings have.

The earthworm has a closed circulatory system, but there are some peculiarities. It is based on two main vessels, the dorsal and the abdominal, which are connected to each other using ring vessels, in some ways very similar to arteries and veins. Depending on the species, the blood of worms can be colorless, red or even green.

Speaking about the circulatory system of the earthworm, the dorsal vessel, which pulsates blood throughout the body, deserves special attention.

Special vessels that cover the intestines and are located in all segments, distill blood into the cavity of the abdominal vessel, which cannot pulsate on its own. The worm's blood flow is from front to back. In addition to these blood flows, there are also vessels that carry blood from the dorsal to the parapodial vessels. In them, the blood oxidizes when it comes into contact with environmental oxygen.

The skin of an annelid worm also has its own vessels, which are connected to the general circulatory system. Those. The circulatory system of worms is quite complex, but it is thanks to it that the worms survive in rather difficult conditions.

Nervous system

The nervous system of annelids consists of two nerve trunks. Nerve nodes are formed in the segments on them. those. a kind of nerve chain emerges. In front, two nodules are connected to each other by circular bridges - a perioral nerve ring is formed. Nerves go from the nodules to various organs.

“Type Flatworms” - Let’s summarize: Class Tapeworms (Cestoda). 2. From the germ cells of the redia, the grandchild generation of larvae - cercariae - is formed. Fixation organs - 4 suction cups. Fragment. There is no anal opening.

“Worms biology” - Find the odd one out: Name the types of worms you know. T. Complete the tasks. Biology teacher at Municipal Educational Institution “PSOSH No. 3” Kuzmina Klara Yurievna. What is the significance of worms in nature? Why in the 7th grade biology course do you get acquainted with different types worms? Why does the wound continue to bleed for a long time after being bitten by leeches? What does this diagram show?

"Biology 7th grade Worms" - Life cycle similar to the previous ones. They live among algae, in soft silt and sand. Rhizomes - move with the help of pseudopods - protrusion of the cytoplasm. The size of a poppy seed, red-brown in color. Trypanosome - lives in human blood. Some species care for their offspring and are viviparous.

“Annelids” - There are lateral mobile outgrowths of the body - parapodia. Class Leeches - medical leech, false horse leech, fish leech. The body consists of individual rings - segments. They have a skin-muscular sac. Representatives of the type. Meaning. Classification. Among the ringlets there are dioecious species and hermaphrodites.

There are 9 presentations in total

Since ancient times, humanity has paid special attention to such unsightly creatures as the earthworm. And scientific minds, in the person of Charles Darwin, decades later, studied their structure and significance in agriculture for many years. And not without reason. Indeed, with the onset of spring warmth, earthworms begin painstaking work and work, without knowing it, for the benefit of people.

Features and habitat

Earthworm , he is also a ringed one - a well-known resident on any personal plot. And it would seem an absolutely invisible creature that no one needs.

However, any person who is at least somehow connected with the land will be very happy to have such inhabitants of his garden. IN Russian Federation There are no more than a hundred species of earthworm. But all over the world there are one and a half thousand varieties of them.

It belongs to the family of annelids, the oligochaete class. Its entire long body consists of many rings. There may be seventy of them, or maybe all three hundred. Since it grows more than twenty-five centimeters in length.

But there are also the smallest ones, two or three centimeters. The Australian earthworms reach two and a half meters in size. Its color is literally words gray-brown - crimson.

Also, on each ring, or it is also called a segment, there are bristles. Our ordinary garden worms, as a rule, grow eight bristles. They are classified as oligochaetes.

However, there are also tropical, polychaete species of worms in which the villi grow in dozens. The bristles help the worms crawl, absolutely over all soil tubercles or burrow into holes.

You can find them by holding the worm in your hands and running your finger from back to front. But since it is difficult for an inexperienced person to determine where his butt is, you can simply run your hand lightly along the body and back. You can feel it right away. In one direction the worm will be absolutely smooth, and in the opposite direction it will be rough.

Anyone who has ever picked up a worm knows that it is covered with not very pleasant mucus, which is vital for it. Firstly, mucus helps the invertebrate move freely in the ground. Secondly, since the worm does not have lungs, it breathes through the skin. And thanks to the moisture found on the mucus, the body is saturated with oxygen.

Self earthworm body consists of two groups of muscle tissue. They are longitudinal and transverse. The transverse muscles are located under the protective top layer of the worm's skin.

With their help, the worm becomes as long as possible. And the stronger muscles are longitudinal. They cut and make the body smaller. This is how the animal moves, sometimes lengthening, sometimes shortening.

The earthworm belongs to the secondary cavity animals. Consequently, he has a complete closed circulatory system. Because their life activity is active.

The muscles contract many times more often than in protocavitary worms. To do this, they need blood to provide the worm with all the nutrients and oxygen.

IN the structure of an earthworm there is a couple blood vessels, one of them is called dorsal, the second abdominal. Ring vessels connect them to each other. Blood flows through them from back to front, and vice versa.

Each ring, or segment as it is also called, has a pair of tubes. The funnels at their ends open and feces are discharged through the bottom. earthworm. This is the principle of operation of the excretory system.

As for the nervous system, it is nodal. Its components are the ventral nerve cord and the peripharyngeal nerve ring. These endings consist of fibers, and they, in turn, respond to the urges of the contracted muscles of the worm. Thanks to them, the worm can eat, move purposefully, reproduce, and develop.

In the building earthworm organs Those responsible for smell, touch, vision, and sensation are absent. But there are certain cells, they are located along the entire body of the invertebrate. With their help, the worm navigates in the dark and impassable ground.

Character and lifestyle

Charles Darwin also suggested the presence of intelligence in earthworms. Watching them, he noticed that when dragging a dry leaf into his home, it was turned with the narrow side. This makes it easier for a leaf to pass through a dense, earthy burrow. But on the contrary, he takes spruce needles by the base so that they do not fork.

All day, all life of rain worm scheduled by the minute. Every now and then he climbs in the ground, makes moves, swallowing it. The worm digs holes in two ways. He or, as already mentioned, swallows the earth, gradually moving forward.

In case the ground is too hard. And then leaving behind their biological waste. Or, he pushes it with his refined end in different directions, and makes moves for himself. The passages are obliquely vertical.

Same rain worm, subsistence in the soil, drags into its holes, for insulation, various leaves, veins from leaves, thin pieces of paper and even scraps of wool. Its burrows are up to one meter deep. And the worms larger in size, and all ten meters. The worm works mainly at night.

A why earthworms crawl to the surface in huge quantities. This means he can't breathe. This usually happens after heavy rains. The earth is clogged with moisture, and there is no oxygen for him at all. When the cold weather arrives, earthworm goes deep into the soil.

Earthworm nutrition

The worm's diet is quite typical. Ingesting large quantities of soil along with food. Withered and slightly rotten leaves and mushrooms are suitable for them to eat. But it should not have an unpleasant odor, otherwise the worm will not eat it.

It turns out that earthworms even build entire storage rooms for themselves and store food there for winter. They eat it only in case of critical need. For example, in winter, when the ground is completely frozen, and there is no talk of any terrestrial food.

Having sucked in the food along with a lump of earth, through the pharynx, with muscular movements, now expanding his body, now narrowing, he pushes it to the back of the esophagus into the goiter. Afterwards, it penetrates the stomach. From the stomach it is sent to be poisoned in the intestines, thanks to enzymes, and comes out as useful biomass.

Making moves, and at the same time having a snack, rain to the worm need to crawl out periodically to the surface to throw off the earth. At the same time, he adheres to the hole with his tail edge, as if holding on to it.

And after that, there are always earthen slides. The soil processed by the worm turns out sticky. Then it dries and becomes small balls, about the size of a match head.

These balls are rich in vitamins, enzymes, organic substances, which, as a result, kill all bacteria in the soil and prevent rotting, which is very important for plant roots. And they also act on the composition of the earth as an antiseptic, disinfecting it.

Reproduction and lifespan

Earthworms can be heterosexual or hermaphrodite. All earthworms have thickenings on the front third of their body. They contain the ovary and testis. Hermaphrodites release seed into each other. Already ripe testicles, up to ten pieces, are inseminated. And they crawl away in different directions.

When a female individual is ready to reproduce, she approaches her partner and copulates. Something like a cocoon is formed on it, consisting of several dozen thickened segments.

It is divided by a kind of belt. Everyone comes into this cocoon nutrients necessary for brood. After fertilization, the worm takes off this burden; it simply slides off the animal.

The edges of the cocoon are quickly pulled together on both sides so that the future offspring do not dry out before they are born. Then, over the course of four weeks, small worms mature and hatch.

Once born, they scatter in all directions. And from the first days of their lives they begin active work to process the land. And already at three months of age, grown-up children reach the size of adults.

Another fact about earthworms is the ability to regenerate. If someone or something splits it into two halves. Over time, each half will become a full-fledged individual. This is one of the methods of reproduction, but no longer sexually.

The role of the earthworm very important in agriculture. Firstly, they saturate the soil with oxygen, which is so necessary for everything growing on it. With their moves, they help the roots to fully develop.

Moisture is distributed evenly, and the soil is well ventilated and loosened. Thanks to the constant movement of the earth, with the help of worms, stones are removed from it.

Also, with their recycled adhesive residues, they glue the soil together, preventing it from eroding. Well, and of course they fertilize the soil when leaves and insect larvae are drawn into it. It all rots and serves as excellent, natural biological additives.