Vermicompost (vermi-compost) is the product of the decomposition process using various species of worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and other earthworms, to create a mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and vermicast. This process is called vermicomposting, with the rearing of worms for this purpose is called vermiculture.
Lumbricus terrestris is a large, reddish worm species thought to be native to Western Europe, now widely distributed around the world. In some areas where it is an introduced species, some people consider it to be a significant pest for out-competing native worms.
Oligochaeta is a subclass of soft-bodied animals in the phylum Annelida, which is made up of many types of aquatic and terrestrial worms, including all of the various earthworms. Specifically, oligochaetes comprise the terrestrial megadrile earthworms, and freshwater or semiterrestrial microdrile forms, including the tubificids, pot worms and ice worms (Enchytraeidae), blackworms (Lumbriculidae) and several interstitial marine worms.
Megascolecidae is a family of earthworms native to Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and North America. All species of the Megascolecidae belong to the Clitellata class. The Megascolecidae comprise a large family of earthworms and they can grow up to 2 meters in length. The intercontinental distribution of Megascolecidae species favours the continental drift theory.
Eisenia fetida, known under various common names such as manure worm, redworm, brandling worm, panfish worm, trout worm, tiger worm, red wiggler worm, etc., is a species of earthworm adapted to decaying organic material. These worms thrive in rotting vegetation, compost, and manure. They are epigean, rarely found in soil. In this trait, they resemble Lumbricus rubellus.
Enchytraeidae is a family of microdrile oligochaetes. They resemble small earthworms and include both terrestrial species known as potworms that live in highly organic terrestrial environments, as well as some that are marine. The peculiar genus Mesenchytraeus is known as "ice worms", as they spend the majority of their lives within glaciers, only rising to the surface at certain points in the summer. Enchytraeidae also includes the Grindal worm, which is commercially bred as aquarium fish food.
The Acanthodrilidae are an ancient and widely distributed family of earthworms which has native representatives in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South America, and North America. No native species are known from India nor Asia. The family possibly shows a pre-Pangaean distribution.
An earthworm is a soil-dwelling terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. The term is the common name for the largest members of the class Oligochaeta. In classical systems, they were in the order of Opisthopora since the male pores opened posterior to the female pores, although the internal male segments are anterior to the female. Theoretical cladistic studies have placed them in the suborder Lumbricina of the order Haplotaxida, but this may change. Other slang names for earthworms include "dew-worm", "rainworm", "nightcrawler", and "angleworm". Larger terrestrial earthworms are also called megadriles as opposed to the microdriles in the semiaquatic families Tubificidae, Lumbricidae and Enchytraeidae. The megadriles are characterized by a distinct clitellum and a vascular system with true capillaries.
The European nightcrawler is a medium-small earthworm averaging about 1.5 g when fully grown. Generally blueish, pink-grey in color with a banded or striped appearance, the tips of their tails are often cream or pale yellow. When the species has not been feeding, it is pale pink. The species is usually found in deep woodland litter and garden soils that are rich in organic matter in European countries. D. hortensis is sold primarily as a bait worm, but its popularity as a composting worm is increasing.
Invasive species of earthworms from the suborder Lumbricina have been expanding their range in North America. Earthworms are considered one of the most abundant macroinvertebrates in the soil of ecosystems in temperate and tropical climates. There are around 3,000 species known worldwide. They are considered keystone species in their native habitats of Asia and Europe because, as detritivores, they alter many different variables of their ecosystem. Their introduction to North America has had marked effects on the nutrient cycles and soil profiles in temperate forests. These earthworms increase the cycling and leaching of nutrients by breaking up decaying organic matter and spreading it into the soil. This thins out the soil rapidly because earthworms do not require a mate to reproduce, allowing them to spread fast. Since plants native to these northern forests are evolutionarily adapted to the presence of thick layers of decaying organic matter, the introduction of worms can lead to a loss of biodiversity as young plants face less nutrient-rich conditions. Some species of trees and other plants may be incapable of surviving such changes in available nutrients. This change in the plant diversity in turn affects other organisms and often leads to increased invasions of other exotic species as well as overall forest decline. They are considered one of the most invasive animals in the Midwestern United States along with feral swine.
Microchaetus rappi, the African Giant Earthworm, is a large earthworm in the family Microchaetidae, the largest of the segmented worms. It averages about 1.4 meters in length, but can reach a length of as much as 6.7 meters and can weigh over 1.5 kilograms.
Gustavus Augustus Eisen was a Swedish-American polymath. He became a member of California Academy of Sciences in 1874 and a Life Member in 1883. In 1893, he became the 'Curator of Archaeology, Ethnology, and Lower Animals' at the academy. He later changed titles to 'Curator of Marine Invertebrates'. In 1938, he was appointed as an 'Honorary Member', which is considered the highest honor from the academy.
Earthworms are invasive species throughout the world. Of a total of about 6,000 species of earthworm, about 120 species are widely distributed around the globe. These are the peregrine or cosmopolitan earthworms. Some of these are invasive species in many regions.
Dendrodrilus rubidus is a species of earthworm in the family Lumbricidae. It is native to Europe, and it is a widespread introduced species, occurring on every continent except Antarctica, as well as many islands. It is often invasive. It is sometimes used as fishing bait, and is marketed under many nonspecific names, including red wiggler, jumping red wiggler, red trout worm, jumbo red worm, and pink worm. Other common names include bank worm, tree worm, and gilt tail.
Samuel James is an American scientist, a researcher specializing in evolutionary biology, focusing on earthworm taxonomy. James, with fellow researchers, has discovered numerous species of annelids, including Diplocardia californiana, Diplocardia woodi, Diplocardia montana, and a new species related to the Giant Palouse earthworm.
Allolobophora chlorotica is a species of earthworm that feeds and lives in soil. This species stands out from other earthworms due to the presence of three pairs of sucker-like discs on the underside of the clitellum. An examination of A. chlorotica specimens from many parts of the British Isles suggests that there are two forms of this species, one with green pigment in the body wall, and one which lacks this pigment, making it pink.
Moniligastridae is a family of earthworms native to South and Eastern Asia, containing around 200 species and five genera.
Dendrobaena is a genus of annelids belonging to the family Lumbricidae.
Bimastos is a genus of lumbricid worm thought to be native to North America but has since been introduced to every continent apart from Antarctica. Recent molecular analysis has subsumed Dendrodrilus and Allolobophoridella under this genus. The clade holding Bimastos and Eisenoides seems to have diverged from Eurasian lumbricid Eisenia during the Late Cretaceous, approximately 69.2–76.1 million years ago. This, along with the discovery of an earthworm cocoon attributed to B. rubidus from lake sediment dated over 7,000 years old in Ontario, Canada contradicts the widely held notion that Bimastos and its junior synonyms are invasive worms from Europe which have colonized North America. It's ancestors likely entered North America via the Bering Land bridge or the De Geer route and colonized elsewhere after European contact. This genus is one of the few remaining native earthworms in many North American environments, for example it appears to be the only extant earthworm native to the Alaskan interior.
