Death Worm 2009

Here’s a fascinating read about the world’s giant worms - from Japan, to little old New Zealand (where we’re from).

There are so many fascinating bits, but here’s a sample:

There have long been tales of enormous earthworms surfacing from time to time in various areas of Japan. One of the hotspots for such accounts is Hyogo prefecture, on Honshu Island, which has many historical accounts of worms in excess of 1.5 meters (5 feet) long. One such account dates from the year 1712, in what was then known as Tamba province (now part of Hyogo prefecture). The account describes a huge landslide that occurred in a village, after which 2 giant earthworms were found in the debris. One of these worms measured 1.5 meters (5 feet) in length, while the other was larger still, at 3 meters (10 feet) long. Another landslide that occurred in the same general vicinity allegedly unearthed a 4.5 meter (15 feet) long worm. A more modern report from Mikata-gun, which is located in the mountains of Hyogo prefecture, dates from 1996 when a farmer uncovered an earthworm 1 meter (3.3 feet) long and 2cm (0.8 inches) thick while planting a tree on his rural property. It was the first time the surprised farmer had ever encountered such a large worm in all his years in the area.

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Perhaps the largest overall known species is the giant Gippsland earthworm (Megascolides australis) ~ seen above, which is found only in the Bass River valley of South Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. These huge worms regularly reach sizes of 3 meters (10 feet), and the longest specimen on record was measured at 4 meters (14 feet) long. These rare earthworms are so large that it is possible to hear the gurgling sound of their movement through the earth when they are disturbed.

In neighboring New Zealand, there is another large worm known as the North Auckland worm (Spencerilla gigantean), which reaches a length of 1.4 meters (4.5 feet). These worms have the added surprising, some might even say creepy, feature of glowing in the dark. By some accounts, the light the worms emit is said to be bright enough to read by.

The United States has its own giant worm as well. The Palouse earthworm (Driloleirus americanus) of the northwest can reach lengths of up to 1 meter (around 1.3 feet) long, perhaps even more. These worms have a historic range throughout the Palouse Prairie, which stretches out over southeastern Washington state and northern Idaho, and is sometimes even considered to encompass parts of Oregon and northwestern Montana as well. The Palouse earthworm is a striking white color, and is said to be able to spit defensively at those that provoke it. These large worms were thought to be extinct in the late 1980s however in the spring of 2005 a University of Idaho graduate student located a specimen by accident during a dig. Several other specimens or parts of specimens have been reported since.

Europe also has its giant worms. The Black Forest region of Germany is home to a 2 foot long worm known as the Giant Badish earthworm (Lumbricus badensis). Sardinia, Corsica, Italy, Sicily, and southern France are home to a species of the earthworm family Hormogaster that can get as long as 75cm (2.5 feet)…

And here’s the rest of the article.