Studying an animal that lives underground can pose some challenges, as one might imagine. The scientists at DePaul University have an interesting solution: hot mustard.
They pour a mix of hot mustard powder and water onto the ground, and the worms come crawling up and out.
Something else about worms: most of Illinois has no native species of earthworms. The worms in your garden are primarily of European origin, their ancestors having arrived perhaps in potted plants. Dumped bait worms and their offspring also add to the nonnative population.
And another suprise: they're not necessarily good for the environment. Nonnative earthworms are ravenous beasts and they devour the leaf litter on the forest floor, literally eating up habitat that is critical for native invertebrates.
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