What type of worm is this?

moneyistooshorttomention

I'm coming across some little worms in my garden.

Description = about 1" long, curled into a ball (well...they are when I see them), pretty thin, dark brown, with thin lines going across their body at intervals.

moneyistooshorttomention

Anyone?.......

Badrick

Key to common British earthworms ( opens as .pdf file ).

http://www.opalexplorenature.org/sites/default/files/7/file/soil-survey-field-guide-2014.pdf

Earthworm guide

http://www.opalexplorenature.org/earthwormguide

hth.

Mojisola

Are you sure they are worms and not millipedes?

MoneyMate

Hope this helps ?
http://www.allaboutworms.com/small-brown-worms-with-stripes-on-the-counter

moneyistooshorttomention

Mojisola wrote: »

Are you sure they are worms and not millipedes?

Just started by a quick google for "images millipedes" and...not charging by the size of those things they're not. They look rather big, whereas these things are only about 1" long and pretty skinny.

Will go off and have a check of the other links given. Thanks.

My first thought was "Wonder if its wireworms? Isnt that supposed to be a bad idea for plants?" and promptly googled images of them and thought "Agh...seems to be various different types of...and don't 'think' they're any of them...".

moneyistooshorttomention

checked out other links and pictures don't match what I've got out there.

They're certainly not a form of earthworms. In fact I deliberately sent off for some earthworms, as I hadn't spotted many at all in my garden, and both the ones I received and the few I had spotted anyway, are a lot longer/thicker/lighter brown.

The things I am spotting are pretty dark brown (sorta blackish-brown I would say).

theoretica

The stripes are across not along? Might be worth looking at pictures of New Zealand flatwormsas you say you are short of normal earthworms.

moneyistooshorttomention

theoretica wrote: »

The stripes are across not along? Might be worth looking at pictures of New Zealand flatwormsas you say you are short of normal earthworms.

Thanks - just googled images of them and nope...not them either.

Mine are much "harder" looking, smaller, always look like a pretty tightly coiled spring when I see them (though think that must be reaction to looming human being having just disturbed them). The stripes are across, not along. Mine are always ever only about an 1" long (I think, with the way they are coiled up).

REEN

Some millipedes are small. The ones I find tend to thrash about when they are uncovered when I move pots. Do they have legs?

Mojisola

Can you post some photos?

I still think millipedes is the answer - they can be very small and vary in colour. Are yours anything like these -
http://abugblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/snake-millipede.html