Vermiculture in Egypt: - FAO - Regional Office for the Near East and

1.3. Types of earthworms
Earthworm is a common polyphagous annelid and plays an important role in the soil
ecosystem.
Although all species of earthworms contribute to the breakdown of plant-derived
organic matter, they differ in the ways by which they degrade organic matter.
According to their habitat types and ecological functions, earthworms can be divided
into three types: the anecic, the endogeic, and the epigeic.
Anecic (Greek for “out of the earth”) – these are burrowing worms that come to the
surface at night to drag food down into their permanent burrows deep within the
mineral layers of the soil. Example: the Canadian Night crawler (Munroe , 2007).
These species are of primary importance in pedogenesis.
Endogeic (Greek for “within the earth”) – these are also burrowing worms but their
burrows are typically more shallow. Such species are limited mainly to the plant
litter layer on the soil surface, composed of decaying organic matter or wood, and
seldom penetrate soil more than superficially. The main role of these species
seems to be shredding of the organic matter into fine particles, which facilitates
increased microbial activity.
Epigeic (Greek for “upon the earth”), they are limited to living in organic materials
and cannot survive long in soil; these species are commonly used in vermiculture
and vermicomposting. All earthworm species depend on consuming organic
matter in some form, and they play an important role, mainly by promoting
microbial activity in various stages of organic matter decomposition, which
eventually includes humification into complex and stable amorphous colloids
containing phenolic materials. An example is Eisenia fetida, commonly known as
(partial list only): the “compost worm”, “manure worm”, “redworm”, and “red
wiggler”. This extremely tough and adaptable worm is indigenous to most parts of
the world.
1.4. Vermicomposting species
To consider a species to be suitable for use in vermicomposting, it should possess
certain specific biological and ecological characteristics, i.e., an ability for colonizing
organic wastes naturally; high rates of organic matter consumption, digestion and
assimilation of organic matter, able to tolerate a wide range of environmental factors;
have high reproduction rate, producing large numbers of cocoons that should not have
a long hatching time, and their growth and maturation rates from hatchling to adult
individual should be rapid. It should be strong, resistant and survive handling. Not too
many species of earth worm have all these characteristics.
Those species used in vermiculture around the world are mainly “litter” species that
include, but are not limited to: Eisenia fetida “Tiger Worm”, as mentioned earlier, and
its sibling species E. andrei “Red Tiger Worm”; Perionyx excavatus “Indian Blue”;
Eudrilus eugeniae “African Nightcrawler”; Amynthas corticis) and A. gracilis
“Pheretimas” (formerly known a P. hawayana); Eisenia hortensis and Eisenia veneta
“European Nightcrawlers”; Lampito mauritii “Mauritius Worm”.
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