If worms could multiply by dividing, they could dispense with all that messy sex business.
Worms are hermaphrodites, so they can mate with any other worm of their species, although not with themselves, as some believe. After mating, both will likely be pregnant, and they can each lay an egg capsule about a week later.
After fourteen to twenty-one days, one to five baby worms will hatch out.
The reality is that the common myth is wrong. While some worms can regrow a tail if they lose it, the part that was lost dies.
True, the lopped-off tail can wriggle around helplessly for a few hours, but that’s just a dead worm walking, similar to a chicken running around with no head, and the tail will eventually stop moving.
The other end with the head might also die from the injury, but at least it has a chance of surviving if its intestines and other vital organs are still intact.
