The Earthworms (Lumbricidae and Sparganophilidae) of Ontario
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Royal Ontario Museum Ufs Sciences Miscellaneous Publications M\v>*0& Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Royal Ontario Museum http://archive.org/details/earthwormslumbriOOreyn LIFE SCIENCES MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM john w Reynolds The Earthworms Illustrated hv • • /T i i daniel l dindal (Lumbncidae and Sparganophilidae) of Ontario Publication date: 15 June 1977 isbn 0-88854-191-0 issn 0082-5093 Suggested citation: Life Sci. Misc. Pub.. R. Ont. Mus. ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM PUBLICATIONS IN LIFE SCIENCES The Royal Ontario Museum publishes three series in the Life Sciences: life sciences contributions, a numbered series of original scientific publications, in- cluding monographic works. LIFE sciences occasional papers, a numbered series of original scientific publications, primarily short and usually of taxonomic significance. LIFE sciences miscellaneous publications, an unnumbered series of publications of varied subject matter and format. All manuscripts considered for publication are subject to the scrutiny and editorial poli- cies of the Life Sciences Editorial Board, and to review by persons outside the Museum staff who are authorities in the particular field involved. LIFE SCIENCES EDITORIAL BOARD Chairman: a. r. emery Senior Editor: IAN R. BALL Editor: allan j baker Editor: Gordon edmund john w Reynolds is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Forest Resources, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick. daniel L dindal is a Professor in the Department of Forest Zoology, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York. KOYAL ^ ONTARIO MlLSEUWf I* PRICE: $8.00 © The Royal Ontario Museum, 1977 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Canada M5S 2C6 PRINTED AND BOUND IN CANADA BY THE HUNTER ROSE COMPANY This book is dedicated to Dr. Gordon E. Gates on the occasion of his 80th birthday and 51st year of publication on the Oligochaeta. 1 1 Contents Foreword vii Acknowledgments i\ Introduction 1 General Biology 3 Introductory Remarks 3 General Activity 3 Parasites and Predators 4 Environmental Requirements and the Effects of Pesticides 4 Rearing and Culturing Earthworms 6 Methods of Study 8 Sampling Techniques 8 Preservation Techniques 10 Ontario Collection Coding 10 Figure Coding 1 General Morphology 13 External Structure 13 Internal Structure 14 Glossary 18 Identification of the Earthworms of Ontario 3 Key to Sexually Mature Earthworms Found in Ontario 32 Systematic Section 34 Family LUMBRICIDAE 34 Genus A llolobophora 35 A. chlorotica 36 Genus Aporrectodea 40 Ap. icterica 40 Ap. longa 43 Ap. trapezoides 46 Ap. luberculata 50 Ap. turgida 56 Genus Bimastos 61 B. parvus 61 Genus Dendrobaena 64 D. octaedra 65 Genus Dendrodhlus 69 Dd. rubidus 69 Genus Eisenia 74 E. foetida 74 E. rosea 78 Genus Eiseniella 83 £/. tetraedra 84 Genus Lumbricus 88 L. castaneus 89 L.festivus 92 L. rubellus 94 L. terrestris 99 Genus Octolasiun 104 0. cyaneum 105 0. tyrtaeum 108 Family SPARGANOPHILIDAE 112 Genus Sparganophilus 1 12 5. mew 1 13 Distribution and Ecology 1 16 Appendix: Provincial Description 123 Literature Cited 127 v/ Foreword "I would not enter on tin list of friends, (Tho' grae'd with polish'd manners and tine sense Yet wanting sensihilit\ ) the man Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm". Wilham Cowper, The Task (1784) Nobody could needlessly set foot upon one of the giant earthworms of Australia or Brazil, large specimens of which may attain lengths of 1 1 feet and weigh up to 1 pound. But to many people earthworms are lowly insignificant creatures whose main utility is to act as bait for catching larger and more edible animals. The Canadian earthworms are indeed represented only by the smaller, more modest, forms and even though to the uninitiated they all seem to be the same there are in fact several species which are not too difficult to distinguish. In this book Dr. Reynolds has assembled, for the first time, all pertinent data, both sys- tematic and biological, on the Canadian earthworm fauna, and with the aid of a key, and the fine illustrations of Dr. Dan Dindal, any naturalist or fisherman should be able to name accurately the specimens that he has at hand. Earthworms are a significant component of the soil fauna and their beneficial effects on the agricultural properties of soils have been documented since the time of Darwin. Some idea of the extent of their activity can be obtained by reflecting on the fact that something apparently so permanent as the monument of Stonehenge is being buried at the rate of about seven inches per century as a result of the burrowing activities of earthworms. Because of their effects on the soil there can be little doubt that a proper understanding of these creatures is greatly to man's benefit but, as Dr. Reynolds points out, very little is known of their biology in North America. This book should form a valuable basis for fur- ther study of these important aspects. Dr. Faustus, in part I of Goethe's Faust, speaks disparagingly of him who "finds his happiness unearthing worms". And an old Chinese aphorism warns "watch the earthworm; miss the eclipse". But anybody who has spent time in- vestigating and observing the smaller and lesser known animals of this planet knows that there is much intellectual satisfaction to be gained from such efforts. The great Victorian naturalist, Thomas Henry Huxley, likened the uninformed naturalist to a person walking through an art gallery in which nine-tenths of the pictures have their faces to the walls. With the aid of this book a few more pic- tures are now on view. The Royal Ontario Museum is fortunate to have persuaded Drs. Reynolds and Dindal to collaborate in producing this book, and zoologists, farmers, fishermen, naturalists, and teachers throughout northern North America should have cause to appreciate their labours. Ian R. Ball Assistant Curator of Invertebrate Zoology Royal Ontario Museum vii Acknowledgments [his project was sponsored in pan under a Gerald L. Beadel Research Grant from the Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, Florida. The author wishes to thank Mr. E.V. Komarek, Si. o\ Tail limbers for his support. The au- thor also expresses his gratitude to Mr. Dennis Clarke of Canadian Motor In- dustries (Toyota Ltd.) for providing a 4-wheel drive Land Cruiser to conduct this study. The author is grateful to Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Reynolds o\' Islington, Mr. D.W. Reynolds o( Mitchell, and Mr. K. Burns of the Biology Department of Lakefield College for providing laboratory space during the field work. The contribution of Mr. C.E. Meadows. Oligochaetology Laboratory. Knoxville to the various laboratory and statistical analyses in this project is appreciated. The author thanks Mrs. W.M. Reynolds of Tall Timbers for constant encourage- ment and support during the course of the study, for reviewing the manuscript, and for her comments, criticisms, and suggestions. The author would also like to thank Ms. Jennifer Smith of the Royal Ontario Museum for typing the final drafts of the manuscript and he is especially grateful to Dr. Ian R. Ball of the Royal Ontario Museum for the considerable time and effort he devoted to ed- iting the manuscript, which, in the author's opinion, has improved the text. The author is indebted to the following for providing specimens for examination from collections in their care: Dr. LR. Ball (ROM). Dr. E.L. Bousfield (CNM), Mr. S. Fuller (ANSP), Dr. S.B. Peck (Carleton University), Dr. M.B. Pettibone (USNM), and Mr. D.P. Schwert (University of Waterloo). IX The Earthworms (Lumbricidae and Sparganophilidae) of Ontario Introduction Earthworms (Annelida. Clitellata, Oligochaeta) are familiar to almost everyone. In North America, they are one of the most popular forms of live bait for fishing (Harman. 1955): gardeners hold them in high esteem as nature's ploughmen (Darwin, 1881); folklore and scientific accounts tell of their medicinal uses (Ste- phenson. 1930; Reynolds and Reynolds, 1972), and soil inhabiting vertebrates (moles, voles, etc.) store them as a source of food (Plisko, 1961; Skoczeii, 1970). The role of some species in organic matter decomposition and mineral cycling may be important (Bouche, 1972; Edwards and Lofty, 1972), and a great deal has been written concerning earthworm farming (Myers, 1969; Morgan, 1970; Shields, 1971). Biology students the world over study their anatomy (mainly Lumbricus terrestris) in great detail (Whitehouse and Grove, 1943). The great amount of literature that has been devoted to a group of organisms that are nei- ther pests nor sources of human nutrition is truly amazing, yet their biology and distribution are still relatively unknown. Many of the world's hundreds of me- gadrile ( = terrestrial oligochaetes) species are known only from a limited series of one or a few specimens. This text has been designed to introduce the non-specialist to the taxonomy, nomenclature, morphology, distribution, and general biology of earthworms in Ontario and neighbouring areas. The identity, distribution, and habitats of these animals have been surveyed for a variety of habitats in each of the southern counties and districts of the province. An illustrated glossary is included to- gether with a new key to the identification of the earthworms of Ontario that also is applicable to the rest of eastern Canada and to the northern tier of states of the United States. French and English common names are included for each species. The first records of earthworms from Ontario were provided by Eisen (1874). Recently Reynolds (1972a) reviewed the complete published and verified un- published records of terrestrial earthworms from this province, and a second re- port examined those data quantitatively for habitat factors governing megadrile activity in the Haliburton Highlands (Reynolds and Jordan, 1975). This study is a continuation of those reports and presents subsequent collections from 50 counties and districts of southern Ontario in detail (Fig.