Latest Worm Stories
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Take1 productions completes its first Earfilm, The Earthworm Miracle. An Earfilm production is a hybrid of an audiobook and a motion picture. This innovative form of multimedia heightens the listener's perception of reality, immersing them in a narrative experience that comes alive. Earfilms' productions are contemporary versions of "old school" radio-like dramas that employ a full cast, cinematic scores and 3D sound design. The 21st...
A recent decline in ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla), a ground-nesting migratory songbird, in forests in the northern Midwest United States is being linked by scientists to a seemingly unlikely culprit: earthworms. A new survey conducted in Minnesota's Chippewa National Forest and Wisconsin's Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest by a research team led by Scott Loss of the University of Minnesota and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has revealed a direct link between the presence of...
Obstacles in an organism's path can help it to move faster, not slower, researchers from New York University's Applied Math Lab at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences have found through a series of experiments and computer simulations. Their findings, which appear in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, have implications for a better understanding of basic locomotion strategies found in biology, and the survival and propagation of the parasite that causes malaria....
Scientists have long seen evidence of social behavior among many species of animals, both on the earth and in the sea. Dolphins frolic together, lions live in packs, and hornets construct nests that can house a large number of the insects. And, right under our feet, it appears that nematodes—also known as roundworms—are having their own little gatherings in the soil. Until recently, it was unknown how the worms communicate to one another when it's time to come together. Now, however,...
Discovery at UCSF and Stowers Institute Shows Worm Regenerates Without Centrosome, a Structure Long Thought Necessary for Cell Division A tiny, freshwater flatworm found in ponds and rivers around the world that has long intrigued scientists for its remarkable ability to regenerate has now added a new wrinkle to biology. Reporting in the journal Science today, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City,...
The lowly and simple roundworm may be the ideal laboratory model to learn more about the complex processes involved in repairing wounds and could eventually allow scientists to improve the body's response to healing skin wounds, a serious problem in diabetics and the elderly. That's the conclusion of biologists at the University of California, San Diego who have discovered genes in the laboratory roundworm C. elegans that signal the presence of surface wounds and trigger another series of...
University of Colorado researchers have found that worms were among the first animals to surface after an asteroid plowed into the Gulf of Mexico 65.5 million years ago. Geological sciences Associate Professor Karen Chin of the university said this "K-T extinction" is often focused on the survival and proliferation of mammals, and studies show some of the earliest terrestrial ecosystems to emerge were aquatic plants. However, new evidence from North Dakota shows networks of...
The Natural History Museum in London said on Friday that it is seeking the public's advice in naming a new species of sea-dwelling worm. The unnamed worms are known as annelids and the species spends its time about 6,500 feet below the surface of the sea in Antarctic. "Our goal is to show that taxonomy, the scientific discipline of naming new species, is interesting, fun and crucial to the advancement of science," zoologist at the National History Museum, Adrian Glover, said in a press...
Non-native earthworms are damaging hardwood forests [ View the Science Nation Video ] Think of earthworms and a few things come to mind: they make great bait for fishing, they aerate the soil, and they're an excellent addition to a compost pile. But what a lot of people don't know is many earthworms are actually invasive species. "The western Great Lakes region, which is the area we're focused on, has no native earthworms," says ecologist Cindy Hale, a research associate with...
Study shows humans to blame for spread of non-native species It is widely acknowledged that human beings are largely responsible for the widespread alteration of ecosystems on the planet. A recent study by Dara Seidl and Peter Klepeis of Colgate University in New York traces the ways in which humans are the principal agents of dispersal of exotic earthworms in the forests of Northern America. Their findings, published online in Springer's journal Human Ecology, suggest that humans spread...
Latest Worm Reference Libraries
Vermicompost is composting with the use of special earthworms. Red wigglers and white worms are the more common worms used, although European night crawlers can be used as well. Red wigglers can be found living in manure piles and in rotting vegetation and adapt the best in covered worm bins. Common earthworms burrow deeply and are not recommended for use in compost bins. Blue worms are commonly used in the tropics. Worms are used to decompose vegetable and food waste along with bedding...
The Christmas Tree Worm (Spirobranchus giganteus) is a species of small, tube-building polychaete worm in the Serpulidae family. It is widely distributed throughout the world’s tropical oceans, occurring abundantly from the Caribbean to the Indo-Pacific. The worm’s common and scientific nomenclature refers to the two chromatically hued spiral structures, most prominently seen by divers. These multicolored spiral structures are actually part of the worm’s highly derived respiratory...
The Giant Feather Duster Worm (Eudistylia polymorpha) is a species of marine polychaete worm of the Sabellidae family. Its range extends along the western coast of North America, from Alaska to California. It is most commonly found in the intertidal zone in tide pools and in the neritic (coastal) zone at depths up to 1,375 feet. It is often found in groups along rocks, reefs, pilings, wharves and marinas. Its common name comes from the crown of tentacles extended when the animal is under...
The Bobbit Worm (Eunice aphroditois) is a species of aquatic polychaete worm found on the ocean floor at depths of 33 to 130 feet. It is only found in the Indo-Pacific oceanic region. This predatory organism buries its long body in gravel, mud or corals in the ocean bed, where it waits patiently for prey food to touch one of its five antennae. When touched, the worm, armed with razor sharp teeth shoots out at its attacker with such speed that it sometimes slices the prey in half. Little is...
The Giant Thorny-headed Worm (Macracanthorhynchus hirudinaceus) is a species of acanthocephalan parasite found in the intestines of pigs and other hoofed animals, and can occasionally appear in humans and dogs. The eggs of this parasite are usually found in scarabaeoid or hydrophilid beetles and other similar insects. Worms of this species range in size from less than four-hundredths of an inch to over 15 inches. It causes enteritis, gastritis or peritonitis in affected hosts. While it...
