Earthworms. What is it that they are actually digesting from the earth they ingest? Is it the earth itself or micro-organisms in the earth? Does this make them carnivores?
In: Biology
Soil is a mixture of water, clay minerals (grains of rock even smaller than sand that become sticky because of static electricity), tiny rocks, and most importantly organic matter – bacteria, fungi, plants, even tiny animals. Most of this stuff is dead. The worms swallow up mouthfuls of soil and digest the organic matter. Worms are closer to omnivorous than carnivorous, but something that fills this ecological role of “eats mostly dead organisms” is typically called a detritivore because this role plays an important part in keeping soil healthy, something other omnivores don’t do.
Earthworms are eating the tiny, tiny bits of organic matter in the soil the ingest. Think tiny scraps of leaves, wood bits, animal and insect poop, etc. They aren’t carnivores because they don’t *need* to eat flesh. I’m sure there is bits of flesh in the soil but it’s mostly tiny bits of grass, roots, and other decomposing plant matter.
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