Document an Occurrence

To “document” an earthworm-free location click here.

To “document” an earthworm location you need to do 3 things

1. Write down the date and location of where you collected the earthworm(s).

   The location information should be either…

   1. a “legal description” (township-range-section, sub-section), or
   2. the UTM coordinates (if you are using GPS), or
   3. the latitude & longitude.

   A good description of the directions to it is also helpful (ie. 100 yards into woodlands on the east side of country road 12, 1 mile south of the junction with Shilhon road) with a short description of the habitat type (Sugar maple forest, shrubland, Oak savanna, prairie, city park; etc.), soil type (sandy, clay, rocky, steep slopes, level, etc.) and conditions (old & undisturbed, heavily used, wet, dry, etc.). Alternatively, you could include a general or detailed habitat survey and include this with your earthworm information. The more context information we have the more useful the data is!

2. Write down how you collected the earthworms for each sample.
   1. Mustard extraction
   2. Hand digging
   3. Flip & Strip

   See instructions for how to conduct earthworm surveys for details on these sampling methods. You could also include a short description of the conditions where you found the earthworms you collected (ie. under a log, parking lot after rain, deep in soil, on the surface, etc.)

3. Preserve and ship earthworms to Great Lakes Worm Watch along with the information above.
   1. Follow the direction for preserving earthworms below.
   2. Put them in a labeled vial and send them for confirmation of identification and addition to the archived collection at the University of Minnesota – Natural Resources Research Institute.
   3. If you are sending more than one sample, be sure to label the vials using some unique number or name that corresponds to the location and sampling information you send along.

   Preserving earthworms samples:

   So, once you have earthworms, what do you do with them??

   1. Kill the earthworms in alcohol (70-100% isopropyl, NOT ethyl which bleaches any pigmentation)
      1. Get as much dirt off the earthworms as possible
      2. Put the earthworms in the alcohol one at a time (rather than a whole handful all at once) so they don’t get tangled up into a big mess of earthworms. After a few seconds, the earthworm will become anesthetized and relax into a mostly extended position.
      3. Place the anesthetized earthworms into a vial. You can keep the earthworms in alcohol for the rest of the day (keeping them cool and out of direct sunlight). But don’t wait to long, after a day or so in alcohol they start to get mushy.

   Within 24 hours you need to…

   2. Put the earthworms in Formalin

      Place the earthworms in a leak proof vial and cover them in Formalin which is a cellular fixative that will prepare the specimens for long-term storage.

   [CAUTION: Formalin is a dangerous chemical and safety precautions must be taken. It should be used only in a well ventilated area. It should not be breathed, swallowed or come in contact with bare skin or eyes. If external contact does occur wash the area with large amounts of water. If ingested contact a poison control center immediately. Formalin has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals.]

   If you do not have access to specimen vials and formalin, we can provide them. Contact us at cmhale@d.umn.edu

   3. Label, pack and ship all sample vials (with location information!) to…    
      Great Lakes Worm Watch
      Att: Cindy Hale
      Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota
      5013 Miller Trunk Hwy,
      Duluth, MN  55811