I think our tiny black ants are all harmless. Most of our creatures are.
We have some pretty cool loking Wetas though, have you seen them? They look nasty but are actually quite harmless. They can get really big.
Lena
Ants in compost
Wetas ?
Yes, what are wetas?
My grandson calls his sweaters wetas, but I'm betting it's not the same thing. Grins!
This is a Bluff Mountain Weta. They are native to NZ I think. Scary looking but quite harmless to humans
This is a Giant Weta. They get alot bigger than this little fella though! Again, harmless. They can jump for quite a few metres though. You can sometimes find them around rotting logs or in trees.
Almost forgot to add: pictures from http://weta.boarsnest.net/
This message was edited Dec 1, 2007 10:59 PM
Thanks, for the pictures, look like a criket.
... on steroids!
Tres bizarre! Thanks, LenaBean.
Well, since it is harmless to humans, It's nice to meet ya Weta! Interesting looking character.
I think I heard mention of the heat of the compost harming the worms. If they stayed in the middle it would, but as the compost heats the worms move to the cooler sections. When you turn the pile and the heat is distributed, the same, the worms are mobile and move to a more comfortable, cooler area in the pile. When the pile cools they follow the heat to the middle until it freezes up here. By then they have left eggs all through the pile which apparently live through a solid freeze and hatch again in the spring upon thawing.
I didn't know worms layed eggs.
Dean, I would imagine that they are fairly tiny, and not easily detected. The worms have to reproduce some way, right?
Okay, okay - you made me look!!
Here's a simple, 20 word explanation:
http://www.zephyrus.co.uk/wormreproduction.html
As to whether or not they are discernable to our eyes, you'll have to google it yourself!
Oh dear, pagancat, that was TMI !!!!!!
Cool! That is a very (self) efficient reproduction cycle!
Actually my discovery was that some worms have a light round end that looks like the eggs I discover later behind them in their burrow. I assumed that was the egg they left behind since I only noticed the eggs (only one) left behind them in their tunnel maze. You know when you move a board or bucket or brick you can see the tunnels so well and so vivid? Well I studied all these tunnels and found these eggs in with the castings in the full of summer when the worms are huge and moving and making lots of eggs I didn't notice groups of 6 or 3 or whatever was propounded on that link. After seeing all the eggs I started noticing all the big worms had one egg light colored end on itself which some were missing. I just assumed that the ones with the light egg looking thingy just hadn't dropped it off yet. So much for my scientific take on it. I have, however seen them connected to each other at that prominent band on each one and thought I had read that not only can they reproduce sexually like that, but also asexually with out the "date."
Carol
PC - thanks for the Zephyrus link.
Carol - "without the date" - LOL.
I am beginning to think that those ant farms that kids are given to learn from should be replaced by worm farms. That way the kids learn and we get the benifits of the worm casts ;~)
No way, Laura - you live on a farm and that was TMI??? LOL - you have quirky little sensibilities there, girlfriend!
I am telling you ONLY on DG can you get this kind of critical information! The sex lives of worms! What a deal! LOL
and with pictures, haha! I truly didn't know anything about worms except that I want them in my garden.
And colored pictures at that Cathy4. Pagancat, you are some "web surfer"............woohoo!
Earthworms smell and taste with their upper lip. I knew you couldn't live without that little tidbit.
Carol
Well now I am curious. Do earthworms have sight or hearing?
No, but they have a very sensitive means of feeling.
mqiq77, ...you are so empathetic and understanding...
oh yes I see....being HERMAPHRODITES, they are very much in tune to their feminine sides....
Dang, Mike - you are just leaving the door wwwaaaayyy too far open on that one!
I'm not going for that one either............tsk, tsk, what a naughty bunch this is. Poor little worms, they just want their paper, coffee and a nanner, just like everybody else. LOL
Thanks Pagancat, the worm info was very interesting. It sparked a few more questions in me, and I just spent the last hour looking up worms and their breeding habits!
Also rhizobia ;-)
Witch opens the door for the politicetions for a platform: Have a hermaphrodite jump out of the cake, and shout----"SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY!!!"nauugty Mike
LOL ... you're gonna burn for that one, buddy!
Wow! Learn something everyday!
If you haven't read Amy Stewart's "The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms", I highly recommend it. It is fascinating.
Karen
Is that recommended reading for "adults only"? grin............way TMI here............LOL
Okay. I've found this worm discussion to be veeerryyyy interesting, so I ordered Ms. Stewart's book from amazon.com for $2.50.
I hope you enjoy it, FlowrLady. Most people see the titles of my books and look at me like I'm nuts. But I had this book (Amy Stewarts) at work and my friend picked it up and started reading. She was hooked and asked to borrow it. She still has it. She doesn't even do any gardening, but she found the book as fascinating as I did.
Karen
A spinosad bait worked for me when I had fireants in the compost, left near the pile. Eventually no more fireants. It's so great not having to worry about ants in there.