Earthworms have been known for many centuries as soil forming organisms that inhibit almost all parts of the earth, and best known as "farmer's friend" or the "unheralded soldiers" of the soil. These loving creatures work day and night to make our mother earth clean, green and fertile.
More than 3500 species of earthworms have been reported throughout the world. There are significant differences among worms of different groups in size, shape and pigmentation, burrow construction, food source, life span and working depths in the soil profile etc. Based on these characters earthworms can be divided into three categories which are as follows:
These are surface dwellers serving as efficient agent of communication and fragmentation of leaf litter. Found on surface upto 5cm and feed on organic matter. These have high reproductive rate, have no effect on soil structure, as they cannot dig into the soil, for example Eisenia fetida, Lumbricus rubellus. These are 'muck' or compost worms which live within organic material.
These are found mostly upto 10-15 cms and feed on soiland organic matter as well or we say that they feed on organically rich soil. These create horizontal branching burrows within the soil deriving nutrition from the organically rich soil they ingest. They have major impact on the decomposition of dead plant roots, these worms are important in soil formation process such as mixing and aeration. They have variable body size and weakly pigmented, for example Drawida nepalensis and Allobophora chlorotica.
These have deep burrowing habits, tends to make vertical burrows upto 3 feet in depth ans so can be called as 'Deep Burrowers'. They have large body size, are strongly pigmented, show surface feeding and casting behavior and exhibits a low reproductive rate and mostly feed exclusively on soil. Some examples are Apporectodea longa and Lumbricus terestris.
Although there are thousands of species of earthworms, only few have been used on a wide scale and researched adequately for use in organic waste processing or in vermicomposting. Based on the above mentioned categories epigeics are mostly used in composting as they used to feed on organic matter. The species used most commonly include Eisenia fetida, Lumbricus rubellus, Eisenia Andrei, Eudrilus euginae, Perionyx excavatus, Perionyx cylensis, Perionyx hawayana and Dendrobaena veneta.
Among all these species here at our centre, we have the best composting species ie, Eisenia foetida, Eudrilus euginae, Perionyx excavatus, are available with us.
it is an epigeic worm that prefers to live in organic manure or compost. It is widely known as red wiggler. It can process large amounts of organic matter and, under ideal conditions, can eat half to equal of its body weight per day. These are better adapted to survive temperature fluctuations. These are good for vermicomposting in low to moderate temperature while during humid conditions these are not so good.
it is an aboveground African worm mainly found in tropical and sub tropical countries and is one of the best vermiculture and vermicomposting species. It is best suited for moderate to high humid climates. It is an excellent source of protein and has great pharmaceutical potential. Its reproduction and regeneration rates are excellent that's why this worm is best experimental model for regenerative biology. It attains about 12 mg body weight per day and rapidly reproduces. It has higher growth rate as little as 5 weeks to reach maturity. One of the best species that can be raised for fish bait.
Perionyx excavatus is yet another well known species for vermicomposting. Commonly known as 'Indian blue worm'. These are also epigeic or surface feeding worms that process organic waste above the top soil and in very loosely packed material like leaf litter and manure. Indian blues, which aren't blue at all except for may be an iridescent sheen, have the same banding pattern, but lacks the vibrant yellowish coloring of the red wiggler. This species also have higher growth, maturation and reproductive rates.
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