Packy Lyons, age 7, of New Brunswick, N.J., for his question:

WHAT ARE TRUE WORMS?

A lot of people think the wormlike larvae of butterflies and other insects are worms, but this is notthe case. Only certain animals are considered true worms, and these include earthworms, roundworms and flatworms.

A worm is a legless animal with a soft, slender body. It is made up of many cells but has no backbone. Some have hollow body spaces that contain their internal organs, while others have their internal organs placed in loose, spongy tissue.

Some worms can be less than an inch long, while others, such as the tapeworm, can be 30 feet long.

Roundworms live by the millions in water, soil or rotting plant or animal matter. Others live as parasites in humans, animals and plants.