Wednesday 4 July 2012

Octolasium cyaneum - an earthworm

This is Octolasium cyaneum, an earthworm that prefers wetter conditions.  Previously I had hardly ever seen this worm, but this summer I see loads of them on the road trying to find higher ground as they've been flooded out from the lower side of the road.  We have had more, and more constant rain than I can remember.  The worm normally lives on the side of the road that has a ditch running down it, but although the ditch has overflowed in some parts for a just few hours, it is just too wet for too long in other parts for this worm.  So it crosses the road to reach the higher, south facing bank.

2 comments:

  1. Wow! Really? I'm in Canada and I'm shocked that earth worms (I call them my Earth Warriors) were not native to my parts. Or do you mean waaay up north in the Yukon, NWT and Nunavut? I live in Manitoba.

    I have never seen them mating but I will be on the look out for it now. Sounds like it's difficult if they only do so at night.

    Quick question: After the cocoon moves down the body and off the head, the 'parent' earthworm is still alive, correct?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes. The adult lives on to make more cocoons.

    ReplyDelete

enter your comments here