Definitely, the Dirt Dog Days of August have arrived as the temperatures stayed above 100 degrees all August. No Rain = Tons of Dust blowing in on the South Bay Breezes. 'Fat Sissy' (pictured above) is displaying rolling in the dusty dirt and sand. We are going down to dirt level tonight in the info about Earthworms! Your photostudy tonight includes a volunteer earthworm from the garden who came out in the heat at noon. (not typical). And of course, some flowers mixed in blooming today in the heat! Anyway, Enjoy!
The Crape Myrtles: A Rainbow of Color in the Yard
The Coral Bean Tree blooming like firecrackers!
Erythrina herbacea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythrina_herbacea
Single Purple Althea, Red Throat
Single Purple Althea, Bumblebee Throat!
Double Pink Althea Tree:
This earthworm came out today just to meet You! Some people eat these. Some people fish with them. Here this guy is crawling across bank sand. Many earthworms live here in my great composted soil (from all the trees)
Earthworm
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Earthworm | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Amynthas sp., a common Asian earthworm often cosmopolitan and introduced around the world | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Annelida |
| Class: | Oligochaeta |
| Subclass: | Haplotaxida |
| Order: | Megadrilacea |
| Suborder: | Lumbricina + Moniligastrida NODC v. 8.0, 1996[1] |
An earthworm is a tube-shaped, segmented animal commonly found living in soil, that feeds on live and dead organic matter. Its digestive system runs through the length of its body. It conducts respiration through its skin. An earthworm has a double transport system composed of coelomic fluid that moves within the fluid-filled coelom and a simple, closed blood circulatory system. It has a central and a peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system consists of two ganglia above the mouth, one on either side, connected to a nerve cord running back along its length to motor neurons and sensory cells in each segment. Large numbers of chemoreceptors are concentrated near its mouth. Circumferential and longitudinal muscles on the periphery of each segment enable the worm to move. Similar sets of muscles line the gut, and their actions move the digesting food toward the worm's anus.[2] Earthworms are hermaphrodites—each individual carries both male and female sex organs. As an invertebrate, it lacks a skeleton, but it maintains its structure with fluid-filled coelom chambers that function as a hydrostatic skeleton.
"Earthworm" is the common name for the largest members of Oligochaeta (which is either a class or a subclass depending on the author) in the phylum Annelida. In classical systems, they were placed in the order Opisthopora, on the basis of the male pores opening posterior to the female pores, though the internal male segments are anterior to the female. Theoretical cladistic studies have placed them, instead, in the suborder Lumbricina of the order Haplotaxida, but this may again soon change. Folk names for the earthworm include "dew-worm", "rainworm", "night crawler", and "angleworm" (due to its use as fishing bait).
Larger terrestrial earthworms are also called megadriles (or big worms), as opposed to the microdriles (or small worms) in the semiaquatic families Tubificidae, Lumbriculidae, and Enchytraeidae, among others. The megadriles are characterized by having a distinct clitellum (which is more extensive than that of microdriles) and a vascular system with true capillaries.
Locomotion and importance to soil
Earthworms travel underground by the means of waves of muscular contractions which alternately shorten and lengthen the body. The shortened part is anchored to the surrounding soil by tiny claw-like bristles (setae) set along its segmented length. In all the body segments except the first, last and clitellum, there is a ring of S-shaped setae embedded in the epidermal pit of each segment (perichaetine). The whole burrowing process is aided by the secretion of lubricating mucus. Worms can make gurgling noises underground when disturbed as a result of the their movement through their lubricated tunnels. They also work as biological "pistons" forcing air through the tunnels as they move. Thus earthworm activity aerates and mixes the soil, and is conducive to mineralization of nutrients and uptake of them by vegetation. Certain species of earthworm come to the surface and graze on the higher concentrations of organic matter present there, mixing it with the mineral soil. Because a high level of organic matter mixing is associated with soil fertility, an abundance of earthworms is generally considered beneficial by the organic gardener. In fact, as long ago as 1881 Charles Darwin wrote: "It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organized creatures." [21]
Please see above link for more info!
The Vine below usually blooms in the Spring. Surprise! Cross Vine
Bignonia capreolata - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bignonia_capreolata
Bignonia capreolata is a vine commonly referred to as crossvine. The common name refers to the cross-shaped pattern revealed when the stem is cut; this ...
The Hotter it gets, the more the Oleanders bloom (zone 9)
Nerium
Scientific name: Nerium oleander
Checking on the Orange Citrus Tree:
Citrus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrus
Citrus trees hybridise very readily – depending on the pollen source, plants grown from a Persian Lime's seeds can produce fruit similar to grapefruit. Thus all...
Be Careful on the Roads and watch for Dusty Dirt Days! Big Hugs!
