Welcome to the next installment in the earthworm series. This is the second in a set of three, which aims to provide a brief overview of some of the most notable and often-discussed species of earthworms. If you have not read the first article, we covered the common earthworm and the tiger worm in that one. In this sequel, we will be looking at pheretima earthworms and the Asian jumping worm. These two species are pretty well-established in the helminthology world, though sources on the pheretima earthworm seem to provide conflicting accounts about their physical characteristics.

“Do you know what this worm is?” asks this reader about the black and gray-striped worm pictured below. “We found it on our dining room floor. Pasadena, CA. Thank you!” To start with, we want to compliment our reader on the excellent photo. If it were not for our reader capturing the detail of the worm’s striking stripes and long body, we might have mistepped and identified this worm as something completely different. With that said, we think our reader found a pheretima earthworm.

A black and white-striped worm of considerable length was found by this reader in his toilet in the morning. After finding our website, which “seem(s) to be an authority on worms!” (thank you very much), he hopes we can tell him if the worm is anything to worry about.

This frighteningly long worm was found by this woman who wonders if we could help identify it. The worm in question appears to be wrapped around some sort of concrete post, and sports a glossy, black body with darker stripes at regular intervals, with a reddish head at the end visible in the photograph.