Most of us don’t pay attention to worms, but we tend to have many questions driven out of curiosity once we do. Among the many problems would be their way of sensing things. If you’re someone with a curious mind, you probably have asked the same question as I did:
Worms move around, and they don’t seem to have eyes to see. Since I find it fascinating, I did some research, and here’s what I found:
Do worms and earthworms have ears? No, worms and earthworms don’t have ears. However, their bodies can sense the vibrations of animals moving nearby. Worms have sensitive skin, and they use it to feel the vibrations around them. Such a tool helps them navigate and sense impending dangers.
Worms and earthworms lack many body parts. Still, they have unique tools that compensate for it. If you’re curious to know about how it works, read on. Below is an in-depth take on how worms live without ears.
Let’s get into it!
Contents
Can worms and earthworms hear?
No, worms and earthworms can’t hear. Unlike other animals, they don’t have a pair of ears to listen to sounds and listen to the things around them. Still, it doesn’t mean they fall short when it comes to senses.
Worms live underground, and so a pair of ears won’t be handy in the first place. Instead of ears to listen, they use their bodies to feel vibrations around them.
Since the bodies of worms are quite sensitive, they can feel the vibrations in the ground. As a result, they can identify if another animal approaches them.
Moreover, they have dark and light receptors to identify how deep they are in the ground or how close they are to the surface.
For this reason, they don’t fall short when it comes to sensing things. They just use whatever is handy in the environment where they live.
Related Articles About Worms Anatomy:
- Do Worms And Earthworms Have Lungs?
- Do Worms And Earthworms Have Blood?
- Do Worms And Earthworms Have Hearts?
- Do Worms and Earthworms Have Hair?
How do worms listen without ears?
Since worms don’t have ears, they can’t hear or listen to their surroundings.
Still, they do have their skin around their bodies to sense the vibrations of animals nearby.
The skin connects all the vibrations it senses to respond accordingly. It comes in handy since worms are beneath the ground.
Since the bodies are sensitive and they surround themselves with the ground, their senses can be just as good as ours, if not better.
Further, worms have dark and light receptors to identify how deep they are in the ground or how close they are to the surface.
For this reason, they don’t fall short when it comes to sensing things. They just use whatever is handy in the environment where they live.
How far can worms feel vibrations?
Since the bodies of worms are quite sensitive, they can feel vibrations of a vast distance.
While there’s no way to tell the exact distance they can feel, it should be quite far since they have sensitive skin.
Worms have a brain that connects with nerves in their skin and muscles. Such nerves can detect light, vibration, and even taste.
In response, the muscles of their bodies react according to what their brains deem necessary.
Can worms recognize individual vibrations?
It can also be challenging to determine whether worms can recognize individual vibrations. However, they do react to particular ones.
For instance, people do a particular practice called worm grunting. They do it by vibrating a wooden stake driven into the soil.
The vibration is enough to drive worms out of the soil, forcing them to emerge on the surface.
In a few hours, the worm grunting can make thousands of worms emerge on the surface.
Worms also react to electric tools that deliver mild currents underground.
While the reason behind such things is uncertain, these worms would think they’re in danger underground. Thus, it forces them to come to the surface.
Read also other articles about worms’ legs, bones, mouths, eyes, and head and brains.
Do worms understand when you talk to them?
Worms have a brain that connects with nerves from the skin and muscles. While it’s enough to coordinate movement with their senses, it’s not enough to understand human language and expression.
In general, the worms’ brains are primarily for coordinating movements in response to their senses.
While they have a nervous system that understands their surroundings, it’s incapable of understanding our language.
Summary
Unlike other animals, they don’t have a pair of ears to hear sounds and listen to the things around them. Still, it doesn’t mean they fall short when it comes to senses.
In general, worms cannot hear since they don’t have ears. However, they have sensitive skin that feels the vibrations. Such a tool allows them to sense animals and dangers nearby.
Moreover, they have a brain and nervous system connected to the skin. It allows worms to respond and coordinate their movements with the vibrations they sense.
In a nutshell, worms don’t have ears to listen, but they have sensitive skin that can feel their surroundings. It helps them navigate and stay away from danger.
Resources
Image credits – Canva
