the.com/earthworm
a blind hermaphrodite plow that eats its way through the planet one mouthful of dirt at a time
means a long, soft, segmented worm that lives in soil, feeding on decaying matter and aerating the ground as it burrows.
from A plain compound of "earth" and "worm," both ancient Germanic words. "Earth" traces back to Old English eorþe (soil, ground), and "worm" to Old English wyrm — which once meant not just creeping things but serpents and even dragons. So buried in this humble dirt-eater is a faint echo of the old wyrm that hoarded gold and breathed fire; the dragon shrank, but the name stayed in the family.
- five hearts
- five paired aortic arches pump its blood
- no lungs
- breathes entirely through its moist skin
- both sexes
- every worm carries male and female parts
- soil engine
- can swallow its own body weight daily
- darwin's muse
- his final book obsessed over their digging
lumbricus terrestris — common nightcrawler, found on every continent except antarctica, can grow 25cm long
eisenia fetida — red wiggler used in composting, produces vermicompost commercially worldwide
megascolides australis — giant gippsland earthworm in victoria australia, can reach 3 meters long