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

What do eat compost worms?
Fungi are probably a primary source of food for many earthworm species. Rotting
material from plants, which is richly colonized with it, is the most popular "meal" for
the worms.
Slows the composting process down because the fungi in the compost are eaten
by the worms?
On the contrary, in the general, it is even accelerated. More diverse fungal
communities inhabited earthworm-processed substrates than were found in fresh
substrates. This, although it is generally believed that fungal hyphae are destroyed and
may be a preferred food source for earthworms. Worms probably accelerate the
composting process by both grazing and dispersal, and indirectly by their effects on
the substrate (burrowing and casting).
Can earthworms nibble at living roots?
No! The earthworms to which also the compost worms belong, attack no living roots.
They live on the dead plant material colonized richly with micro-organisms. In
addition, they have no tools (teeth, grater plates or other things) by which they could
nibble at roots. The earthworm in the flowerpot or plant patch does not harm the
plants.
Are certain fungi preferred by earthworms as food?
Earthworms can make a good distinction between the different kinds of fungi.
Lumbricus terrestris prefers Fusarium oxysporum and Mucor hiemalis, other tested
mushrooms are only sometimes eaten or are avoided even completely. In case of the
compost worm Eisenia foetida it was shown, that the black melanine containing
fungus C. cladosporioides was the most attractive in contrast to Aspergillus niger
which was the least attractive. For Eisenia andrei still no investigations were done.
Does a quicker worm composting take place if the plant leftovers are inoculated
with certain fungi before?
This is possible, however, for the normal leisure gardener too exaggeratedly and also
not necessary. Investigations proved that a previous addition of A. flavus accelerates
the growth of Eisenia andrei. Mucor sp. should accelerate the growth with five other
earthworms. Nevertheless, with Eisenia andrei M. circinelloides shows the opposite
effect.
What role do composting worms play besides the use as humus producer, fish
bait and animal food?
The compost worms Eisenia fetida and Eisenia andrei play an important role in the
ecotoxicological assessment of compounds in soil and are the recommended OECD
87