Common earthworm

Lumbricus terrestris · The common earthworm is a large reddish worm native to Western Europe that now lives in garden and agricultural soils worldwide.

Also called Lob worm, Nightcrawler, Dew-worm.

Common earthworm
Photo: s shepherd schizoform on flickr, CC BY 2.0
Common earthworm
Photo: Rob Hille, CC BY-SA 3.0
Common earthworm
Photo: David Perez, CC BY 3.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumAnnelida
ClassClitellata
OrderOpisthopora
FamilyLumbricidae
GenusLumbricus
SpeciesLumbricus terrestris

Where it lives

Native to Europe; now in soils of North America, western Asia and elsewhere.

Fun facts

  • In a single night on the surface, one worm can travel up to 19 meters away from its burrow.
  • It can survive submerged in oxygenated water for weeks at a time.
  • As a hermaphrodite, it still needs a mating partner, and pairs can stay linked for so long that one worm gets yanked out of its own burrow.
  • It can store a partner's sperm for up to 8 months before using it to fertilize its eggs.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).