Worm Fun Facts

Once I got into composting worms ( mainly red wigglers ), I went into a deep dive online to see what sort of fun facts for worms there are. There are SO MANY worm fun fact lists that I had to share my top picks for 2022.

If you know of another random worm fun fact then please share as a comment below and might include it in future updates.

Do Worms Feel Pain

This is actually one of the most searched worm fun facts online. That does give me hope for humanity for sure HAHA! We as humans are empathetic for others including some of the smallest creatures on our amazing planet.

There was actually a study done in the 70’s about this specific worm topic. On September 11, 1979, there was an article post titled: “Worms Can Feel Pain, Research Indicates” in  Section C, Page 1 of the Science Times Section in The New York Times.

From what I read, they never specified exactly what sort of pain they imposed on the poor little worms but I do know that animal research in the 70’s and previous wasn’t exactly that regulated. Something that we all are thankful has changed even when it comes to pain studies on worms.

The overall conclusion that the researchers found is that man and worm are not that different from each other when it comes to our nervous systems and ability to feel and cope with pain.

Hopefully this can stop people from splitting worms in half just to watch them wiggle around. Yes they do feel pain when you cut them in two folks. Please stop doing it unless there is a specific purpose like using them as natural fishing bait for example.

If you would like to find out more about this research paper then do some quick google searches for:

The Swedish scientists, J. Alumets, R. Hakanson, F. Sundler and J. Thorell of the University of Lund, Sweden, which was published in the British journal Nature.

I couldn’t find a full copy of the worm research paper itself but IF it does exist I will post a link to it for all to read as well.

This team of Swedish researchers found actual evidence that worms not only feel pain but even develop a chemical reactionary system that is very similar to our own which helps with pain management. Talk about some very intelligent recyclers we have on earth.

Within the testing group of worms used, they ( swedish research group ) proved that they ( the worms ) produce enkephalins and beta endorphons ( worm opiates ) which allows them the ability to cope with pain and pleasure sensations.

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