The Red Worm Store

The Sex Life Of a Red Worm

All Red Worms are equipped with both sex organs, yet they must still pair in twos. Red Worms that are sexually mature have a swollen band called the clitellum one-third the distance between the head and the tail. The bedding serves many useful purposes. One of the uses is for mating at various levels and even on the surface. Unlike may other animals that mate seasonally the red worms can mate at any time. In such close quarters they are bound to find each other attractive (perhaps by appearances, by touch, or by emitting pheromones).  Their tiny bodies joined closely they will lie in opposite directions. Through the clitella they naturally produce a secretion which is mucus that forms a shallow ring around each one. Each red worm produces sperm that slides gently down a narrow channel into the receiving pouch of the significant other. The sperm transports into a storage sac. In a reasonable time after the two red worms separate a substance, albumin secretes. The substance is the life saving material that forms the cocoon for the fertilized eggs to mature and eventually hatch.

Round and tiny are these red worm cocoons, almost undetectable by the naked eye. During maturation they transform from white to yellow, then brown. The tiny cocoons change to a bright red when the infant red worms are mature to appear. The entire maturation process takes three weeks for complete development. The development of the hatchlings is very dependent upon temperature and other conditions. The cocoons are capable of holing up to twenty red worms, but in the course of maturation only three or four will appear at the hatching. The exposed blood vessels make the young hatchlings appear white with a slight pink color.