Aporrectodea trapezoides is an earthworm with the common name the southern worm. They are popular in southern Canada and the central valley orchards. This earthworm is found in heavy or sandy soils. They are mostly found in cultural grounds. They are drought tolerant. When they are dormant they are spent rolled in a ball in an oval chamber. It eats on disintegrated things. It is a segmented worm; that means that it is made up of a bunch of rings. Most worms have 100-200 segments. The coloring varies from grey to pink. Some are a few inches long, but not as big as the worms in Australia. Those can be up to 12 feet long and weighs one and one-halve pounds.

Salamanders are among the animals that eat earthworms. All earthworms are both male and female. Each worm has both sperm and eggs, but can’t fertilize their own eggs. They mate with another earthworm then a day later each worm makes a cocoon its size is about one grain of rice. Usually, young worms develop in two to three weeks depending on the weather.

Author: Vance L

Published: 02/2008

 Sources: Lauber, Patricia. Earthworms Underground Farmers : Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 1994 Stewart, Amy. The Earth Moved, On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2004. http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/worms/profile3.htm

Photo Credit: Jeremy Scholz, 2008