This month I need your help. I've started a new book – no title yet – about an intestinal worm looking for love, and I'm hoping somebody might be able to assist me with some of the scientific details.

Wilton is a threadworm. You may have met some of his rellies. If you've ever woken up in the night with a very itchy bottom, there's a good chance some of Wilton's family may have been involved.

I've had that experience myself, so I'm familiar with some of Wilton's habits and lifestyle preferences. But there's still a lot about his species I don't know. And the problem is, because I did quite a bit of daydreaming in science and Latin classes at school, I'm hopeless at scientific research.

Enterobius Vermicularis is Wilton's family name in Latin. There is stuff about his family in the reference books and on the worm websites, but most of it is in scientific language I can't understand. So if anyone can email me answers in everyday language to the following questions, I'd be very grateful.

1. What do threadworms eat? How do they eat it? How do they digest it? What comes out the other end? Where from?
   
   
2. They can live inside and outside the human body. Do they need oxygen to survive? How about chocolate?
   
   
3. What senses do they have? Can they see, hear, touch, taste or smell? How do they communicate without texting?
   
   
4. How do they protect themselves from dangerous things like human digestive juices and curry?
   
   
5. Do threadworms sleep?

If you know the answer to any of these questions, I'd love to hear from you via the Visitors Page.

Until next month, oo-roo and happy reading/worm examination.

13 May 2004