The severity of damage to host plants by omnivorous pests can vary according to the availability of plant and animal prey. Two omnivorous mole crickets, Scapteriscus vicinus Scudder and S. borellii Giglio-Tos, were used to determine if the availability of prey influences damage to hybrid bermudagrass by adult mole crickets. Experiments were conducted in arenas with either grass alone (control)...

The purpose of this study was to determine which suture material is the most appropriate for dermal closure of terrestrial annelids. This paper describes the tissue reactions of the earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris, to five different types of suture materials in order to determine which suture material is the most appropriate for dermal closure. Silk, monofilament nylon, polydiaxonone, polyglact...

The invasion of non-native earthworms (Lumbricus spp.) into a small number of intensively studied stands of northern hardwood forest has been linked to declines in plant diversity and the local extirpation of one threatened species. It is unknown, however, whether these changes have occurred across larger regions of hardwood forests, which plant species are most vulnerable, or with which earthw...

Abstract Earthworms are considered ecosystem engineers due to their fundamental impact on soil structure, processes and other biota. An invasion of non-native earthworm species has altered soils North America since European settlement, a process currently expanding into still earthworm-free forest ecosystems continuous spread increasing temperatures owing climate change. Although earthworms kno...

Most studies investigating the effects of earthworms on microorganisms have focused on the changes before and after vermicomposting rather than those that occur throughout the process. In the present study, we designed continuous feeding reactors in which new layers of pig slurry (1.5 and 3 kg) were added sequentially to form an age gradient inside the reactors in order to evaluate the impact o...

The World Health Organization estimates that a staggering two billion people harbor parasitic worm infections. Parasitic worms also infect livestock and crops, affecting food production with a resultant economic impact. In view of this, an attempt has been made to study the anthelmintic activity to validate the Eritrean unorthodox medicines. In this study, aqueous extracts of Acacia etbaica, Co...

Three types of glycoclusters related to an amphoteric glycosphingolipid found in the earthworm Pheretima hilgendorfi were synthesized. The glycoclusters were prepared from a common precursor and a simple approach for the rational design of a glycocluster was developed.

Earthworms drive multiple soil processes, but their specific impact on functions differs between earthworm species and ecological categories. A key challenge in modern agriculture is compaction due to heavy machinery, we have limited quantitative knowledge about how the burrowing activity of different affected by compaction. Here, address this question a laboratory experiment with 2-D terraria,...

The earthworm is ideal for studying action potential conduction velocity in a classroom setting, as its simple linear anatomy allows easy axon length measurements and the worm's sparse coding allows single action potentials to be easily identified. The earthworm has two giant fiber systems (lateral and medial) with different conduction velocities that can be easily measured by manipulating elec...