Science extra credit project.

1. Ryan Kollmann and Michael Seehusen present Earthworms

3. Phylum: Annelida

4. Class: Clitellata

5. Family: Lumbricadae

6. Order: Haplotaxida

7. Genus: Lumbricus

8. Species: L. terrestris

10. Look like a tube inside of a tube

11. The outer layer is made up of a series of circles wrapped around the body

12. The inner layer of muscle runs along the length of the body

13. Food enters in the mouth and exits out the anus

15. Decaying plant matter or manure

16. Decaying conifer logs

17. Mud near streams

19. Earthworms eat decaying plant and animal matter and they usually swallow some soil with it

20. The soil passes right through and exits as castings

21. The decaying matter is what earthworms actually need for nutrients and energy

23. Mating pair overlap front ends

24. Earthworms are hatched in cocoons for 30 to 60 days

25. Babies are born fully grown except for lack of sex structures

26. Average life span is 4-8 years

28. Beetles, centipedes, leeches, slugs and flatworms also feed on earthworms

29. Some types of mites parasitize earthworm cocoons or the worms themselves

31. Keeps soil structure open by burrowing

32. Humans often kill them for recreational activities such as fishing

33. Many worms are killed either accidentally or for no real purpose

34. While this may happen frequently, the

35. species is not endangered

37. Do not have lungs, breathe through their skin, and can live under water for a while;

38. Do not come to the surface during rain to escape drowning, but rather to find a mate since their mobility is much better on wet ground

39. Lack eyes but are light sensitive

41. May survive being frozen if the freeze is not too rapid

42. Pictures

43. THE END