Flora and Fauna: The Wonderful World of Worms.

They may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the earthworm is one of our planet's most important creatures. Their ability to turn dead, organic matter into fertile, nutrient rich soil makes them vital to many land based ecosystems and, without earthworms, our world would look very different.

So I thought I'd give them some much needed love with a MOC that also shows the 3 main categories they can be sorted into:

Epigeic - these worms live on the surface, feeding on leaf litter. They are small and darkly coloured to help them hide and protect them from the sun.

Endogeic - these pale coloured worms rarely come to the surface and instead feed on soil matter. As they eat, they create networks of tunnels in the top layers of the soil.

Anecic - The largest worms, they collect food from the surface and pull it down into their deep vertical burrows. These worms often have dark coloured heads fading to pale near the tail.

(I also added an egg cocoon ready to hatch the next generation!)