{"id":379312,"date":"2026-10-22T05:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T05:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/379312\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T05:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T05:08:08","slug":"ask-dr-universe-queens-gazette-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/379312\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask Dr. Universe – Queens Gazette"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Dr. Universe: Why do worms come out when it rains? \u2014 Courtney, Idaho\u00a0<\/p>\n

This updated Ask Dr. Universe story originally\u00a0published\u00a0May 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dear Courtney,\u00a0<\/p>\n

I love\u00a0exploring in\u00a0the rain.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0fun jumping in puddles. And I really like seeing wriggling worms.\u00a0I talked about it with my\u00a0friend\u00a0Tarah Sullivan.\u00a0She\u2019s\u00a0a soil scientist at Washington State University.\u00a0She told me that, when it rains, earthworms sometimes leave their homes in the soil. They squirm their way to the surface.\u00a0But nobody knows exactly why they do that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Soil\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0just lifeless dirt.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0teeming with life. A handful of soil\u00a0contains\u00a0worms, plants,\u00a0insects\u00a0and billions of itty-bitty microbes. They need water to survive.\u00a0But too much water can be a problem.\u00a0\u201cOne theory for why worms come to the surface\u00a0is\u00a0so they don\u2019t drown,\u201d\u00a0Sullivan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It turns\u00a0out\u00a0earthworms\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have lungs. They breathe through their skin.\u00a0The outer layer of an earthworm\u2019s body is the cuticle.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a non-living sheath secreted by the skin layer underneath. Worms\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have skeletons like we do.\u00a0The cuticle protects the worm\u2019s insides and helps give the worm\u2019s body structure.\u00a0The cuticle is slimy with mucus. That slime\u2014plus the damp environment\u2014keep the worm from drying out.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0crucial because earthworms exchange gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide across the cuticle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It works by diffusion.\u00a0There\u2019s\u00a0lots of oxygen in air pockets in the soil.\u00a0There\u2019s\u00a0not much oxygen inside the worm. So, oxygen molecules flow from the air pockets into the worm\u2014from a place with gobs of oxygen to a place with less oxygen. It moves through the cuticle and into the earthworm\u2019s blood.\u00a0Carbon dioxide is a waste product. It\u00a0goes\u00a0the opposite direction.\u00a0There\u2019s\u00a0more carbon dioxide inside the worm than\u00a0out in\u00a0the environment. So, the carbon dioxide molecules flow out of the worm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The cuticle must be wet for diffusion to work. If an earthworm dries up, it\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0breathe.\u00a0But when it rains super heavily, the soil can get too wet. Waterlogged soil has fewer air pockets\u2014because many of those spaces fill up with water. Under those conditions, earthworms might move out of the soil temporarily, seeking a better place to breathe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sullivan told me\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0also possible that worms are traveling when\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0raining.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0when the soil is nice and wet.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0probably easier\u00a0to wiggle around dirt\u00a0clods,\u00a0roots\u00a0and other underground stuff.\u00a0Plus,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0likely cooler\u00a0and less sunny. That would help worms stay moist and protect them from getting fried by the hot sun. Rain might make for safer travel conditions.\u00a0If an earthworm needs to find a new home, a cloudy, wet day might be\u00a0a good time\u00a0to do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The best way to help those worms is to let them do their\u00a0thing.\u00a0They\u2019re\u00a0probably out\u00a0catching their breath or going somewhere. After all, they have a big job, snarfing up food and\u00a0pooping\u00a0out nutrients that keep the soil healthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I guess when it comes to helpers, worms are\u00a0really down to earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sincerely,\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. Universe\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ask Dr. Universe is a science-education project from Washington State University. Visit AskDrUniverse.wsu.edu to read more Q&A\u2019s, or to send in a science question of your own \u2013 or that of a kid you know \u2013 for a chance to be featured in a future Q&A. Or you can write to: Ask Dr. Universe Washington State University ITB 2013B Pullman, WA 99164\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is what a slice of an earthworm looks like. The outside ring is the cuticle. That\u2019s the part of the worm you touch when you pet a worm. The worm\u2019s skin lies just under the cuticle. Josef Reischig CC BY-SA 3.0, arrow and label by Dr. Universe \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This is an earthworm\u2019s face up close. The prostomium above its mouth is like an upper lip. It helps push food into the worm\u2019s mouth. The setae are stiff hairs made of cuticle. They help the worm move. Hannah G Watson et al. CC BY 4.0, arrows and labels by Dr. Universe\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr. Universe: Why do worms come out when it rains? \u2014 Courtney, Idaho\u00a0 This updated Ask Dr. Universe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-379312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}