How does cold affect worms? i need this information for a science project. Can someone help? =[ Thank you :D?

Answer 1

http://www.lasciencefair.org/ideas.htm#Earth%20&%20Space  heres a site for project ideas if you decide you do not want to do a project on how temperature affects earth worms.

It's long but this is all the info you will need for your project. if you decide on something different you can e-mail me through my profile and I will do my best to help you on another topic. GOOD LUCK!


When we talk about temperature in regards to worms, the most important thing to remember is that while the worms will survive a fair amount of variation in their climate, they will only do so if these variations occur slowly, over a period of time. Taking a worm-bin from a house which is a comfortable 20 degrees celsius, and moving it out into a winter temperature of -10, even if only briefly while on the way to the car, is a sure way to solve the problem of overpopulation in the bin. The same problem can occur in reverse. If you have the worms out on the balcony for instance, and fearing an early frost you move them from a temperature of 5 degrees celsius into the heated living room, try not to be surprised if you later notice that a lot of the survivors are in mourning for missing loved ones.

Generally, the most suitable temperature range for Eisenia Foetida and Lumbricus Rubellus has been shown to fall between 13 and 22 degrees celsius, a range which is also quite convienient for those of us who live with them. Temperatures which fall outside this range can affect the worms in several different ways, not all of which are as final as death.

As the temperature drops below 10 degrees celsius, the amount of food eaten by the worms will also decrease. The worms will be less active, and possibly move a little lower into the bedding (unless it is a cold floor causing the problem, in which case they will move nearer the surface.) At 4 or 5 degrees celsius, the adult worms may stop producing cocoons, and the growth rate of the younger worms will diminish. This is where it gets a little tricky. Of all the material I have studied on the culturing of red worms, only once have I come across a writer who is apparently of the same mind as myself where this next matter is concerned.

Time and time again, I have read statements to the effect that a worm cannot survive a solid freeze. Now if what this statement means is that a worm cannot survive being frozen solid, then I agree 100%. However, if this statement is meant to imply that any worms left in the soil (yes, I said soil, but that's another article) after the onset of winter are destined for that great compost-heap in the sky, then I disagree just as strongly. Two years in a row, I went out to my yard in the spring, while the ground was still frozen, and using very strong tools managed to dig a chunk of frozen earth out of the garden area. Upon looking at the profile of the soil, the presence of red worms curled up in little air pockets in the soil, is not a sight you can easily overlook. Knocking a couple of these guys out of these little pockets, I was very impressed on each of the two occasions when only a few moments passed before the worms in question slowly woke up, stretched out, and proceeded to look rather foolish as they tried to work their way back into the still-frozen ground. Since we are talking about holes which were only a few inches under the surface (and I was living in Prince Albert, SK, in Canada), no one will ever convince me those worms did not survive a solid freeze. Obviously, given adequate time to adapt and prepare, they somehow managed to avoid being frozen solid.

Pushing things up to the other side of the scale now, we find a similar situation when we talk of excessive heat. Though the most suitable temperatures for consumption of food, and reproductive processes in regards to the worms we have been discussing are generally agreed to be in the moderate range mentioned earlier, when properly acclimated, red worms will continue to breed, feed, and grow very well in temperatures up to 30 degrees celsius, if adequate moisture is always present. In fact, research has shown that worms raised from hatchlings to adulthood in temperatures considerably higher than the norm, may even develop, and reproduce, at rates faster than members of the same species raised at lower temperatures, or outdoors (Minnich, 1977; Hartenstein, Neuhauser, and Kaplan, 1980.) The same does not hold true, however, for worms originally raised at lower temperatures, with death often resulting (Hartenstein, 1978; Mitchell, 1978.) So once again, we see that it is often a case of what the particular batch of worms is accustomed to, and it also bears mentioning once again, any change in temperature should be a gradual one.

There is a final point which should be mentioned in regards to temperature. Always bear in mind that if the worm-bin has sufficient moisture content, the temperature in the bedding will average anywhere from 5 to 10 degrees lower than the surrounding air. There are times when this will be an important consideration. And finally, a word of caution. Several of the books which are available on vermiculture recommend using cold water as a way of bringing down the temperature in a bed which is suspected of being too warm. Possibly there may be no harm in this idea, but I for one have had the experience of standing in the shower when the hot water suddenly ran out, and...well, you get the idea.