Earmworm (Lunibricus 8p.) 



Material. — Both living and alcoholic material should 

 be at hand. The first may be obtained almost any- 

 where in firm, damp soil during the warm months of 

 the year, especially from June to September, during 

 which time the worms are breeding, and on warm 

 nights are very likely to be found lying on the sur- 

 face of the soil, with the most of the body outside the 

 burrow. At this time a large number of fine specimens 

 may frequently be caught by quietly examining the 

 ground in a garden or lawn. It is necessary to step 

 carefully, as the slightest jar disturbs the animals, and 

 they immediately withdraw into their burrows. Larger 

 and more perfect specimens may usually be caught in 

 this way than by digging. A number, at least five or 

 six for each student, should be obtained, and those 

 which are to be preserved in alcohol should first be 

 put into a basin of water and the dirt rinsed off their 

 bodies, then they should be put for twelve hours into 

 three to five times their bulk of fifty per cent, alcohol 

 in a flat dish, in which they may be laid out straight. 

 Transfer to seventy-five per cent, alcohol for a day, and 

 then to strong alcohol for preservation. In winter, liv- 

 ing worms may be found in the soil or under flower- 

 pots in greenhouses. Specimens may be kept alive for 

 study in the winter by putting them into large, well- 

 drained flower-pots fiUed with fairly stiff soil contain- 

 ing a few dead leaves and covered with a sod. The 



