#tiger worm

[onenicebugperday]

Redworm aka red wiggler worm aka tiger worm, Eisenia fetida, Lumbricidae, Annelida

Native to Europe, this species has been introduced to every continent except Antarctica. They are specially adapted to thrive in decaying organic material, especially rotting vegetation, compost, and manure, and are rarely found in soil. When roughly handled, redworms exude a pungent defensive liquid, thus the specific name fetida.

Photos 1-3 by steve_kerr, 4-5 by treegrow, and 6 by nzwormdoctor,

[whats-in-a-sentence]

A few years prior, I'd been told that tiger worms could be purged and would taste like abalone, the prized shellfish known as paua in New Zealand. They didn't. They tasted like a troll's armpit, an evil flavour borne from something close to the grave. Perhaps the species' name gave a clue as to its palatability: Eisenia fetida. And fetid it tasted. (Apparently even trout find them unpalatable, according to Australia's pre-eminent scientific authority, the CSIRO.)

"Soil: The incredible story of what keeps the earth, and us, healthy" - Matthew Evans

[crunchy-scribbles]

Monster commission for  wiiffler on furaffinity. : )  Monster commissions are open, please go here http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4973180/ , if you're interested