Red earthworm
The red earthworm is a reddish brown worm whose back shimmers like a rainbow, with a pale yellow tummy. It has no legs, no eyes and no bones. It wriggles through the soil and helps keep it healthy.
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Fun facts
Its body is made of about 95 to 120 rings, called segments.
Each ring has four pairs of tiny bristles that help it grip the soil.
It does not like bright light, because strong light dries it out.
It can taste and smell with special sensors on the front of its head.
Earthworms help plants grow by turning dead leaves and dung into good food for the soil.
Most asked questions about Red earthworm
?What does a red earthworm eat?
Rotting leaves, dung and other well rotted bits in the soil.
?How long is a red earthworm?
About 2.5 to 10.5 centimetres long.
?Why are earthworms good for the garden?
They break down dead plants and help plants take up food from the soil.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Lumbricus rubellus
- Group
- Snails, slugs and worms
- Family
- Lumbricidae
- Classification
- Clitellata > Crassiclitellata > Lumbricidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania
Where the facts come from
- Lumbricus rubellus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by James K. Lindsey. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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