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Clitellum Missing
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Posted by equinoxequinox (My Page) on Tue, Jan 12, 10 at 23:21
| I looked through all of my worms and did not find a single one with a Clitellum. Did all the breeders die and the new ones are still preteens? Looking to increase the population. I guess it is going to be a while. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Clitellum Missing
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| Did you completely clean out and look at all your worms in the bin? or Did you recently get them?
Less than 3 months |
RE: Clitellum Missing
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| I started with maybe half an eggshells worth from the compost heap and have had them for about a year and a half. Now I have maybe a whole grapefruits worth. I have given away worms a few times and have added worm concentrations from the compost heap. I had been given a few red wigglers a couple years ago and put them into the compost heap. There may be a mix of worms, but they look red and wiggle a lot. I used a tri claw hand tool and put everything from each bucket into a new bucket. I looked at each claw full as I transferred looking for the saddles. ~ New England so the worms are in the 55 to 70 degree cellar year round. |
RE: Clitellum Missing
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| What is the function of the clitellum? |
RE: Clitellum Missing
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During cold whether I have noticed the clitellium not to be as pronounced.
As for the question, the clitellium is the band or ring around a breeder sized worm which allows the worm to reproduce with another worm
Liz |
RE: Clitellum Missing
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| See dictionary reference for more |
Here is a link that might be useful: Clitellum Definition
RE: Clitellum Missing
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Looked through them all again, still no breeders.
Is it possible worms stay preteen until it warms up to a certain temperature? |
RE: Clitellum Missing
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| A huge storm and thus low pressure is arriving. A perfect time to check on the wee beasties. I claw into the compost and pull up a few lucky individuals on the tines and inspect them before they wiggle off. They all seemed to have a - about 1/4 the way from the mouth to the tail, closer to the mouth. The segments immediately around this - seemed to be bending or stretching or just a bit different than all the other segments, although not swollen or changed in color. The - was raised and yellow or white. The - goes in the same direction as the worm. At first I thought it might be the beginnings of protein poisoning since I have been pouring in the cornmeal in a still futile attempt to warm things up. But the - was in the same spot on each worm and only one spot per worm. I bet next week they ask to borrow the car keys to go watch the submarine races. (I was surprised because I have gotten my tiny cache of worms from several different compost heaps at different times yet very recently no longer had breeders or babies or eggs. All my eggs had hatched and babies have now grown to I guess teenagers now.) It has recently warmed up outside to 32 from zero. So maybe the celar warmed up a bit. Looking forward to Clitelliums, then eggs, then babies. On line I see: tubercula pubertatis (TP) at http://www.icewatch.ca/english/wormwatch/resources/anatomy.html I think that is what I am seeing. I think the worms are going through puberty. |
Update: Clitellum Found
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| All the worms are now bigger, longer and fatter. And they all have Clitellum. No eggs yet. No new babies or teenagers. I know exactly what the eggs look like. I used to have some then stored and kept damp the finished compost and harvested the bunch of babies (once they were big enough and no longer fragile) which grew into the present worms. I think the cold of the celar in New England maybe really slowed things down. Hibernation might describe the composition process in the cold. Imagine keeping your worm bin in your refrigerator. Envy of those in warmer areas. But now I'm cooking with gas. |
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