ESB Newsletter Volume 5, Issue 2

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Earthworm News
Volume 5, Issue 2 Winter 2014
In This Issue
News
page 2
Earthworm Survival Tactics in Flooding
and
Recent Publications
Recording
page 5
ESB Field Meeting 2014
Events
page 8
Events Coming up in 2015
Species of the season
page 10
The morphs of Allolobophora chlorotica
Curiosity Page
page 11
The Truth About Velvet Worms
Slime Time
page 12
Puzzle of the Season
Dear members,
We have had a busy year at the Earthworm Society. Last year’s wet winter prompted lots of questions about how earthworms survive in flood conditions - we have now got an answer to your questions in ‘Earthworm Survival Tactics in Flooding’, on page 2.
We have also held our first three field meeting weekends. All were a great success! There is more information about the field meetings on page 5. Our Kent field meeting report will be published shortly. You can find our other field meeting reports on the ESB website.
We have updated our website so there is more information about sampling and recording; including the forms you will need if you want to collect your own records. We are adding more pages soon, so keep your eyes peeled at www.earthwormsoc.org.uk.
Remember we still have our Facebook page which we update regularly - https://www.facebook.com/ earthwormsoc
We are currently planning events for 2015 and will be sending out information shortly! We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.
Best Wishes
Rachel
ESB Newsletter Editor

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News
Earthworm News
Hot Earthworm Topic
Last winter saw record breaking rainfall, particularly around the Somerset Levels in South West England. The flood waters covered over 17,000 acres and this land was underwater for over a month. The floods caused devastation to homes, agriculture, businesses and wildlife. During this period we got many enquiries about the impact flooding had on earthworms.
Little research has been done on the impact of flooding on earthworms in the UK. Eiseniella tetraedra, thrives in semi-aquatic environments such as floodplains, whilst other species have adapted to survive an increase in water levels through physical or behavioural methods. Many species migrate (behavioural adaptation) to drier, less waterlogged environments if they have the chance. Other species such as Allolobophora chlorotica, Aporrectodea caliginosa and Lumbricus rubellus have adapted physically to survive within waterlogged conditions.
Freshwater v Seawater
Coastal flooding, which is caused by saline water (sea water), has a negative effect on earthworm populations. Earthworms tend not to thrive in coastal areas influenced heavily by the sea. This is due to the high salt levels, which lower the microbial populations (such as bacteria, fungi and viruses). In turn this reduces the oxygen levels in the soil which are essential for the survival of earthworms.
Flooding with freshwater found in rivers and streams provides a better environment for earthworms as the microbial population is
Earthworm Survival Tactics in Flooding
How can earthworms survive many feet under water? The Somerset Levels saw some of the worst flooding on record in the UK last winter. (Press Association image)
Sampling for earthworms around a lake can produce some interesting earthworm finds, such as Eiseniella tetraedra. (V. Gilson photograph)

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Earthworm News
News
Hot Earthworm Topic
not destroyed. The flooding also deposits organic matter which is high in nutrients and remains after the flood waters subside. There are some species such as Eiseniella tetraedra and Allolobophora chlorotica (the green morph) that are found in waterlogged soils, such as river banks.
Earthworm species are broadly split into 4 ecotype groups, using physiological and behavioural characteristics. Different ecotype groups seem to be able to tolerate flooding differently.
Anecic Earthworms
Anecic earthworms such as Apporectodea longa and Lumbricus terrestris appear to be the least tolerant to flooding, this is likely to be due to the interference that the water has on the earthworms deep vertical burrows.
Endogeic Earthworms
Endogeic earthworms such as Allolobophora chlorotica and Apporectodea rosea make horizontal burrows near the surface of the soil. They tend to do better in environments which have short term flooding, such as river banks and edges of marshes. In cases of longer term flooding (soil submerged for 2 months or more) endogeic species usually do not survive. This could be due to the issues in burrowing; similar to that of anecic earthworms. Though more studies need to be done to confirm this.
In 1945 an Allolobophora chlorotica specimen was, surprisingly found in sediment below Lake Windermere. The species is known to breed in moist conditions however is rarely found in permanently waterlogged soils.
Epigeic Earthworms
Epigeic earthworms such as Eiseniella tetraedra, Octolasion lacteum and Lumbricus rubellus tend overall to be the most successful earthworm group in flooded environments. This is because they live on the surface of the soil, mainly in leaf litter and do not make deep burrows.
Above: Apporectodea longa is an anecic earthworm these species burrow deep in to the soil and do not do well in flood waters.
Above: Allolobophora chlorotica is an endogeic earthworm.
Above: Lumbricus castaneus is an epigeic earthworm, these species are the most successful earthworms in flooded areas and actively live in very moist soils
(Images: NHM and FSC 2012)

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It has been suggested that some species; such as Lumbricus rubellus; have adapted to flooding through ensuring that the population can recover afterwards. This adaptation appears to be early maturation of the species at a lower weight in floodplain areas, which in turn allows L. rubellus to produce more cocoons. This is important because cocoons are resistant to flooding and will hatch after the flooding has subsided allowing the population to recover quickly. In studies into Eiseniella tetraedra there is a higher than average use of cloning (asexual reproduction) to ensure the success of their species after flooding due to lack of mates. Their cocoons like L. rubellus are resistant to water but also sink quickly in to the soil.
E. tetraedra and O. lacteum survive well in water due to their ability to move their tails upwards in the water to maintain gas exchange. This is in part done through increasing the speed of osmoregulation (regulation of water within the body) to ensure their bodies do not become over hydrated and die from water exposure.
Earthworms do not do well in heavily polluted flood waters. Heavy metal pollutants (such as mercury and lead) appear to be one of the biggest problems in contaminated flood waters as they are toxic and absorbed into the body. Therefore flooding in areas with a high manufacturing history tends to have a lower population of earthworms than areas with more rural or agricultural pasts.
Earthworm News
News
Hot Earthworm Topic
Recent Publications
Written by Rachel Julie Clark
In April 2014 Natural England published a report about the distribution, abundance and habitats of the Earthworms in England. Their report was carried out by the Soil Biodiversity Group at the Natural History Museum, London. The research highlights the need for more sampling of earthworms across the UK, to establish the conservation status of earthworms particularly the ‘rarer’ species, such as Lumbricus friendi, and Aporrectodea limicola.
You can download this publication at:
http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/5174957155811328
Further Reading:
Zorn, M. et al. (2008) ‘Flooding responses of three earthworm species, Allolobophora chlorotica, Aporrectodea caliginosa and Lumbricus rubellus, in a laboratory-controlled environment.’ Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 40, 587-593.
Ivask, M. et al. (2012) ‘Effect of flooding by fresh and brackish water on earthworm communities along Matsalu Bay and the Kasari Riv- er.’ European Journal of Soil Biology, 53, 11-15.
Zorn, M. et al. (2005) ‘Species-specific earthworm population responses in relation to flooding dynamics in a Dutch floodplain soil’ Pedobi- ologia, 49, 189-198.

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Earthworm News
ESB Field Meetings 2014
Recording
This year the Earthworm Society of Britain launched our programme of field meetings. The primary aim of the field meetings is to get out into the field and collect earthworm records, but also we are trying to recruit and train more recorders who can go out and sample their local areas and help towards getting more dots on the distribution maps for earthworms in Britain.
During our field meetings we use ESB standard sampling methods (see our previous newsletter, Issue 5 Vol 1, or our website for the protocol) and also look in some microhabitats such as dead wood, dung, hedgerows and leaf litter.
Most earthworms cannot be identified to species in the field and they need to be viewed under a microscope to see the diagnostic features. On the second day of our field meetings we hold an identification course, teaching attendees how to identify earthworms and then identifying the specimens we collected the previous day.
We are proud to say that all three of our field meetings this year were a success and we are currently planning 3 more for 2015 field meetings.
We would also like to say a big thank you to everyone who attended our field meetings and made them such a success. We hope to see you at future events and look forward to receiving more records from you.
Bracknell Forest Field Meeting - 22nd and 23rd March 2014
Reported by Kerry Calloway
Our first site; Garth Meadow, a grassland that is used for pasture, yielded 51 earthworms of 9 different species. After our successes in Garth Meadow we headed to the nearby Tinkers Copse, a deciduous woodland and nature reserve, where we found 4 species, 2 of which we hadn’t seen in
Garth Meadow, before continuing
to our last site of the morning.
The sampling team at the Bracknell Forest Field Meeting
Left to right Vicky, Ian, Dan, Rachel, Keith, Kerry, Keiron and Emma (V. Gilson, photograph)
Rachel, Keiron and Kerry sampling at our first site on our first field trip (V. Gilson, 2014)

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Earthworm News
Recording
Larks Hill is a naturally regenerated grassland where we found 7 species before stopping for lunch.
After a picnic in the orchard we sampled 3 different sites in Englemere Pond Nature Reserve: heath, woodland and pond side and found very few earthworms here. This wasn’t particularly surprising as the soil was very poor for earthworms and much of the area was Pine forest. Pine trees make the surrounding soils too acidic for earthworms so you generally don’t find many living in these habitats. Sampling a site and finding no earthworms is by no means a waste of time and it is actually very interesting not to find any. A zero result can still be added to the distribution map. We finished the day at Popes Meadow and added a further 6 records.
The second day of the Bracknell Forest Field meeting was the identification course which was successful, with everyone greatly improving their identification skills and we managed to identify most of the specimens collected on the previous day. Special thanks to Keiron, Rachel and Salma for finishing off the identifications the following week.
London Field Meeting (Richmond Park) – 7th and 8th June 2014
Reported by Rachel Clark
We sampled eight sites in Richmond Park, we had a rainy start to the day which soon became a gloriously sunny day. Our first site was acidic grassland which was home to millions of Yellow Meadow Ants (Lasius flavus), each ant hill has between 8,000 to 14,000 individuals. We found 2 earthworms of different species. Our second site was similar to site one, acidic grassland, however was a mix of grass and bracken. 8 earthworms were found comprising of 3 species.
Emma showing us the art of ESB sampling at Englemere Pond (V, Gilson, 2014)
The sampling team at the Richmond Park Field Meeting
Back row L to R - Olivia, Michelle, Matthew, Rachel, Rus- sell, Renee, Alex. Front row L to R - Kerry, Joanna and Victoria (K. Brown, 2014)

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Earthworm News
Recording
Our third site was neutral grassland, which can be identified due to the clover found in the grass. 16 earthworms were collected comprising of 4 species. Our fourth site was also a neutral grassland where we found 3 species. After a lunch break, with a lovely view of the park, we headed to our fifth site. This was our most successful which was an acid grassland with a small stream running through it, we collected 7 different species of earthworms from this one site. We then went into a deciduous woodland, mainly of sweet chestnut and a understorey of rhododendrons. This made for an interesting site, which was difficult to dig in due to the roots and dense understorey, however, we persevered and collected 3 different species. Site 7 was a Fen on the edge of one of the ponds in the park, this site provided the most individuals (18 in total), comprising of 3 species. Our final site was an Orchard near the edge of the park with some trees that were over 600 years old! Here we found 6 earthworms comprising of 3 species. In total, at Richmond Park, we collected 15 species, 76 individuals.
Our second day was our identification course at the Natural History Museum’s Angela Marmot Centre for UK Biodiversity, we had a packed room and identified three ‘rare’ species; Allolobophoridella eiseni, Aporrectodea icterica and Lumbricus festivus and one very rare species; Helodrilus oculatus, however with all four of these species further investigation is needed in order to verify their true distribution and abundance in the UK.
We would once again like to say a big thank you to everyone who took part and we are currently finalising the Capstone Farm Country Park (Kent Field Meeting) Report.
We will be announcing events in the New Year, for people who wish to
attend events in 2015.
Alex identifying earthworms at the Natural History Museum (R. Clark, 2014)
Some of our attendees of the Kent Field Meeting. Our report will be on our website shortly (V. Gilson, 2014)
Written by Rachel Julie Clark and Kerry Calloway

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ESB Preston Montford Field Meeting with the Field Studies Council
When: Sat, 21 March 2015 – Sun, 22 March 2015
Where: FSC Preston Montford, Montford Bridge, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 1DX
Day 1 will be field based and involve sampling a range of sites and habitats. Experienced recorders will be on hand to provide training and guidance to anyone new to earthworm recording. The aim of the day is to introduce the method for sampling for the National Earthworm Recording Scheme.
Day 2 will involve a lab-based identification course led by ESB tutors and is suitable for those with no experience or those that want to identify earthworms. Attendees are welcome to bring earthworms from their own gardens or other places and we will happily help with identification.
Upon completion of the course attendees will be added to the list of recorders for the National Earthworm Recording Scheme. The course fee is £15 and includes a one year membership to the Earthworm Society of Britain, a copy of the AIDGAP Earthworm key, ESB recording guides and sampling tubes.
To book a place, please email the course organiser (Keiron Brown)
at keironderekbrown@gmail.com.
Earthworm News
Events
Events in 2015
Big Nature Day at the Natural History Museum
When: Sat, 23 May 2015 Where: Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road London SW7 5BD
The Earthworm Society of Britain will be attending this year's Big Nature Day. Come along and talk to our earthworm experts about these fascinating animals. We will have activity sheets
for kids and our Earthworm Compost Survey
for adults. More details will be coming soon.
Kerry digging for earthworms (V. Gilson, 2014)

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One of our Trainee Identification Tutors Kerry helping a student on Kent Field Meeting Identification Course (R.Clark, 2014)
Earthworm News
Events
Events in 2015
UK Earthworm Identification Workshop with the Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
When: Tue, 23 June 2015, 10:00am – 4:00pm Where: Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery, Castle St, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 8TP Fee: £15 per attendee
A one day workshop, including sampling earthworms in the field. The course fee is £15 and includes a one year membership to the Earthworm Society of Britain, a copy of the AIDGAP Earthworm key, ESB recording guides and sampling tubes.
Book with Tullie House Box Office on 01228 618718.
Wildlife Training Workshop: Identification of Earthworms with the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire,Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire
When: Sat, 14 November 2015, 10:00am - 4:00pm Where: Lings, Northampton, Northamptonshire
This one day workshop is being run by the Wildlife Trust for
Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire so
please check the events section of their website for more
details: www.wildlifebcn.org/whats-on
Two more field meetings are currently being planned. The ESB Yorkshire Field Meeting will take place in summer 2015 and the ESB Thames Valley Field Meeting will follow in autumn 2015. Further details will follow in future ESB Newsletters.
Dan identifying earthworms on the Bracknell Forest Field Meeting Identification Course (V. Gilson, 2014)
Richard, Dan and Kerry collecting earthworms on the Kent Field Meeting Sampling Day (V. Gilson, 2014)

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Earthworm News
The morphs of Allolobophora chlorotica
Species of the Season
Allolobophora chlorotica, ‘The Green Worm’, is a widespread earthworm living in a diverse range of habitats; including, probably, your own garden.
A. chlorotica is currently described as one species with two morphs, the green morph and the pink morph. However, last year a team at Cardiff University studied the genetics of the two morphs and their findings suggest there maybe up to four different species rather than one. In 2011, The Central Lancashire University studied the DNA of the two morphs and their data suggest the two morphs are separate species. However more research needs to be done to establish that they are in fact two different species.
The two morphs do not only have different colouration and maybe even genetics, but they also live in different habitats. The pink morph tends to live in gardens and woodlands, areas that are damp but not very waterlogged. On the other hand the Green morph tends to live in wetter conditions, such as grasslands, by rivers and even under Lake Windermere (see ‘Earthworm’s Survival Tactics in Flooding’ page 2 for more information). Though both morphs do have the same distinctive clitellum and TP (Tubercula pubertartis) consisting of 3 humps. The clitellum and TP are reproductive organs and as a result are only found on adult earthworms.
A. chlorotica is a widespread species. Its native range spans across Europe through North Africa, Asia and into Japan. The species, however, is now found in North and South America, Africa and New Zealand after being introduced by humans.
Allolobophora chlorotica is known as the Green Worm because of its green colouration - though this is one of two morphs (the other morph is pale pink/grey colour (image - NHM.ac.uk, 2014)
The three distinctive humps found on adult A. chlorotica’s clitellum (image—NHM.ac.uk)
Allolobophora chlorotica the Pink morph which is a pale pink/grey colour (image - NHM.ac.uk, 2014)
Written By Rachel Julie Clark

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The Velvet Worm is considered to be a missing link between arthropods (e.g. insects and arachnids) and annelids (segmented worms). They may sound cute, soft and maybe even cuddly, however, the Velvet Worm has a dark side. It catches prey with slime and stabs its jaws into the victims body to dispatch it.
The Velvet worm is scientifically known as Onychophora which means ‘claw-bearers’. This is due to the double claws they possess on the bottom of their stumpy, little legs. Velvet worms have between 13 to 43 pairs of legs on a circular soft body. These little, stumpy-legged creatures were the first animals to permanently walk on land - over 400 million years ago. Velvet worms, unlike the humble earthworm, give birth to live young, which hatch from their eggs inside their mother. This is known as ovoviviparity. After birth the young have no parental care, showing, once more, the darker side of the velvet worm.
Velvet worms live in tropical countries; such as Central and South America, India, Australia, Malaysia. Fossils of the velvet worm have been found in the Northern Hemisphere, suggesting they inhabited further north during a warmer climate. Velvet worms live in dark, damp environments such as leaf litter, rotting wood and stones, they even dwell in termite tunnels. They are carnivorous, feeding on a range of invertebrates such as termites, woodlice and spiders. They capture their prey by tangling them up in a sticky liquid that they squirt out of a segment on their head, then suck the liquid out of the body of their prey. They also use their slime as a defence mechanism.
Velvet worms such as Euperipatoides rowelli is suggested to be a missing link between insect and segmented worms (from NHM.ac.uk)
Tasmanipatus barretti (giant velvet worm) (left) is from Tasmania and Tasmanipatus anophthalmus (blind velvet worm) (right) from Australia were classified in to a new genus in 1991 (images, NHM.ac.uk)
Earthworm News
The Truth About Velvet Worms
Curiosity Page
Velvet worms, they are called worms, so they are closely related to earthworms, right?

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Earthworm News
Slime Time
Puzzle of the Season
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Complete this puzzle in two easy steps!
Solve the anagrams to get the clue
The Clue
1
4
5
2
3
6
7
8
9
10
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14
15
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A stocking filler?
The answer
We have found this fabulous little poetry book for children on earthworms, written by Celia Warren.
This gem of a book not only has nursery rhymes and poems on earthworms but little nuggets of environmental and science education within them.
You can find the book on sale at the Bloomsbury website for around £5. You can buy it as a paperback or as an ebook.
TISH RAEMORTHR NAC VELI NI REFSH RATWE NAD MIOSEMSET NEOLSC FILEST
8
12
5
18
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3
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13
9
1
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The letters in the numbered boxes, once put in order , will reveal the answer.

ESB Newsletter Volume 5, Issue 2

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