WAYS OF THE WILD.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 177, 28 July 1928, Page 1 (Supplement)

WAYS OF THE WILD.

EARTH WORMS. j AND REMARKS ON SOMH NEW ZEALAND ONES. i:\ A. T. pvcron 1 A crroponflem states tha: been informed that if an earth worm cat in two and placed in a box <'c severed parts would unite automatically. Mv correspondent admits that the two parts mik'ht be grafted, but he dees not believe they would unite unaided. 1 -ev.-ivd parts will not unite unaided, bit? it i- T .'o>siide to sever an earth worm s.i that (><>rh parts will live —;r all depends wiicre it i- severed —and it would b> al--> —IStt- to crraft the pan- -o that tbey wi.i-.id unite. Th-re are fer'nap--i»ecie- "? earth worm-, tiie u-; majority •if wit'.-h are well known, and there are few part- of the world, and these are no' if !arn,> area from which earth worms have u«'i i>een gathered. The anatomy of earth worms is well known to =oien-ti-ts. The exterior characteristics are riim- or furrows, which run right round the !...dy: nearly all of t'tie-e -esmients are furnished with minute bn-tles. trvy are disposed in pai r s. and all lie upon the ventral aspect of the worm. The movement of these by special mn>clc, aids in locomotion. Jn front there is tbc month, which is overhang by a protection which looks like an incomplete segment. The body is supplied with pores, some are excretory organs. worms are hermaphrodites, and in these are seen both the soerm ducts and the openings <>t* the oviducts. It is not necessary in this article to fully describe the internal anatomy except to -ay that some worms have several gizzards, and also several hearts, one species has three pairs r,f heart-s. Th.e sense of tas-te is well developed, and it is believed that they are not without a sense of smell. Worms do not possess the sense of he-ar-|ing. and beyond beiner affected by Light have no power of vision. The absence of these two senses is compensated for Jby extreme sensitiveness to currents of air and vibration in any solid matter. [Bird? are the chief enemies of worms in jXew Zealand, and when they are lyi-'g near, or on the surface, vibration of t"e -oil. caused by the birds, has the reverse c-ttVet of driving the worm- below: it is :i'~n improbable that their actions in this case are not caused by any definite purpose, bur the result of extreme timidity. Like other groups of animal* earth worms vary in their habits, size and colour, according to the nature of the .-oil. or situations they inhabit. Although -hey have been known to live for many days in warm water, they quickly d> when flooded out by the cold rains ~f winter. It i= then that one sees srrea; numbers of the mackerel or common little gull feeding upon them.

Helpers of Mankind. Worm- are the natural iertl! -ei- .->f the -oil. and in favourable weath-r n-e cun-t-antly replenishing it bv the add .- ■ -i"us of fresh ca.-ting-. Tlieir mod<* >•: lite is simple. they live in and beneath the soil, leaving it at tune- to wander "ver the -urfare. especially a* nisrln. and during wet weather. Earthwormare with few exceptions the most purelv ten-estrial animal- known. Thrrp u ,, group of animal- that is w rh.aracter i-ed by a subterranean existence. Xcve: I theless there are many argument- u tend to show that the-e" purely landdvellers have grown out of exc!u-i\e!v warer dweller.-, and that the chans.frum one nnxle of 11t• * to "tlx? other

I'.-en accomplished comparatively rc le-i'tlr. To the very inexperienced feye. all earthworms po«s;hlv appeal quite siniilar in detail, a- they'undoubtedly are in general form. Charles Darwin. in his valuable work on "Vegetable Mould." says; "in many part.- of Tji<;land a weight of more than ten t"r-

o: dry earth annually pathrouc i the bodies of eurtnworms. -

h'-ouplit- to the surface, on each acre irround." The amount of earth ejected i>y imported earthworms in New Z-n- ---• and in favourable grou'id i- apj.arentlv t-<i'ia.l tri some part> of F.ucland. Although the weight of the castings w considerably less in Xew Zealand it i-

_ counteracted by the greater number of worms in the soil. Darwin n—umed tha f the-p may be 2ij>s>; p f . r square acre of pasture land. Tiie late M-\ A. T Urquhart. of Karaka. a \ erv carefn' natural history observer, counted tic number in a square foot in varioiijiarts of an of his farm, and from the results estimated there were r>er acre. >üb«oi! loosened by their bur rows and chamber* benefits bv th'»-p moist and nourishing galleries; penetrating as a rule to a deptii ot from - : \ to 15 inches beneath the surface tetids to draw thr roots r.f the vegetation to a depth they would in some cases not otherwise attain. The Canterbury Plains, formerly a bare, shinglv area, but now highly fertile land, is'an ex ample of the work accomplished bv earthworms. This work was undoubtedly performed by the larger species of our native worms; they are able to -wallow the larger particles of -and. or small stones, which become gradually reduced by attrition in thei'- <siy /.ards and intestines, while the abun dance of slimy secretion with which they lubricate their hod:e= externally would render the particles more cohesive.

New Zealand Earth Worms. Just as Xew Zealand lias it- >pecia! and peculiar birds, so it ha- peculiar -pecies and genera of earth worms. Th-. North Island worms belong to » -übfauiily quite different from that to which the predominant earth worn:- oi the South Island belong. A natM. fauna of worms may be interfered wi; n b\ the ititroduction of foreign urtrn:11' New Zealand many alien -peejes h«u "iiused the large native worms to rapid I v <i'.-a]'pear from gardens and e%e i the smaller indigenous specie- do not remain in cultivated land. A remarkable earth worm was obtained by the late Mr. p'obt. Shakespear. a former conservator of the Little Barrier Dland. i h-s earth worm va- 4ft tun in Jcncth cud was found on a bush-covered pla-:-nu HOuft above -e.i level, ilr. Shake--pear -tate-: "Tlie curioti- thing about ' he-e large wc-rniS is that we never sc" lany casting's: with this one a slight j."'uck in the ground w 'as noticed, aI w hen a mu-hroom i- coining through but there was no hole coining to ii.e -urfai-e. It was found 2ft down, the e winding horizontally, but slowly J.o. ir.viir<i-. | > .-rai of the spe cvs C'f nai ;vf worm-ju.-re in former time- used a' an article tiv the Affloris. who the only 1 ;i raee of mankind known to na\e |.;-e d worm- Too.;, le a -t eight Lpeeie- w»-re kiM.w - ' i. Maoris. _\[ r Klsdon He-t .-!»[•(■■ - ■ ■ i "■ for cook'no r" ° •" 1 ti**ir • nr> " remain th< tn t «.. da\ -. Air. Klsdon . H,-t nane.v ojo- canuot sjieak from •xperiencf Worm- were also preserved a gourds for 90m© time. '