Earthworms (Lumbricina) are common terrestrial invertebrates of the order Annelida, known as ringed or segmented worms. They ...

The grand feature of earthworms, though, is their digestive system. Earthworms constantly push their food along with waves of muscular contractions. They use mineral particles to help grind up ...

Earthworms help improve soil nutrition. They feed on decomposing organic matter such as leaves and dead plant roots. The nutrients they eat become concentrated in their digestive system and are ...

Scientists have discovered how earthworms can digest plant material ... Our countryside would be unrecognisable, and the whole system of carbon cycling would be disrupted." Plants make polyphenols ...

where it is broken down further by digestive enzymes. Some of the food is passed into the bloodstream for use by the earthworm, and the rest passes out the anus as castings (worm poop).

A few enzymes aren't the only digestive trait we share with earthworms. We both have gut bacteria showing just how tiny microbes are. Not surprisingly, gut microbes in earthworms are soil bacteria ...

LITTLE is known of the digestive enzymes of the earthworm. The presence of protease, amylase and lipase has been reported in the gut contents in isolated instances. Since up to 10 per cent of the ...