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The night crawlers you use for fishing and the worm on your driveway after a hard rain belong to Phylum Annelida (uh NEL ud uh), the segmented worms. The tube-shaped bodies of all segmented worms are divided into many little sections. Besides segments, members of this phylum have bristle-like structures called setae that help worms move. Have you ever tried to pull a worm out of the ground? Not easy, is it? This is because segmented worms use their setae to hold on to the soil!
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| In just one acre there can be a million or more earthworms, eating 10 tons of leaves, stems, and dead roots a year and turning over 40 tons of soil. And don't forget their wastes! Their excrement, called castings, contains the recycled nutrients from the debris they eat. Their tunnels add air and their waste is fertilizer. Pretty helpful, huh? They are practically underground farmers! | |||
Return to the Classification of Animals
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J. Vilenski | Site Map
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