Invasion of Earthworms

Monica Harris from central Texas recently wrote into the Worm Digest.

“I recently had an INVASION of worms at my home in central Texas!!!!  After a rain they came out around the front porch of my house in ball sacks of what looked like hundreds of them with a white foam surrounding them.  They even got under the door and into my house!! Please tell me what they are (brown, skinny, about 1-3 inches long) - and if they are good, bad, or whatever?   I have pictures if you want me to send them to you.

I would appreciate any help!!!!!  Thanks” - Monica Harris

Monica wrote back a couple of days later. . .

“. . .here are the pictures. . . I am very interested in finding out what they are, and why the sacks?” 

We asked our resident expert, Norman Arancon, what he thought?

Norman replied. . .

“Thanks for the interesting pictures of earthworms.

It is quite impossible for me to identify the earthworms just by looking at the pictures. There are certain anatomical parts that we usually look at under a microscope to identify the species.

I can only guess why they congregating the way it is shown in the picture - when earthworms come out after a heavy rain, they will find a way to keep themselves moist to survive.  Some would find themselves crawling back into the soil and survive. But for those that will not be able to go back in time, another earthworm body would be an alternative source of moisture. As the stress due to lack of moisture and changes in the ambient temperature heightens, they excrete body fluids including enzymes - which could explain the bubbly mucus forming around them. These fluids actually 'melts' their body and they eventually die.

Since they are soil dwelling, I can not say that they are bad earthworms at all.”

With that being said and Monica not quite knowing for sure what kind of earthworms are on her front porch, we now turn to the Worm Digest forums.  Please check out the General Earthworm Discussion Forum to see if anyone in the great State of Texas can identify or are familiar with these specific earthworms.