Please feel free to read it. Just a little, make sure when you're done, you come back up and check out this link.
How do you tell the difference between a Lumbricus rubellus and a Lumbricus terrestris? If you could anwser that, it would help me a lot.
Sincerely, Rachana
Some differences: An adult Lumbricus rubellus is much shorter in length than Lumbricus terrestris, is redder in color, does not make a permanent burrow for its home as does Lumbricus terrestris, and does not burrow as deeply.
Lumbricus rubellus:
Also known as red worm, red wiggler, and other common names. The most popular earthworm species for commercial production. Can be raised indoors or outdoors. Does not make a permanent burrow. Color is maroon. Grows to length of 2 to 5 inches. Popular as fishing bait. Very good for composting as they work fast.
Lumbricus terrestris:
Also known as nightcrawler, dew worm, orchard worm, gumbo worm and other common names. This is the largest earthworm found in North America. Grows to length of 4 to 12 inches. Comes to the surface only at night to feed, mate and leave castings. Makes a permanent burrow for its home. May burrow as deep as 15 feet. Also popular as fishing bait. Need cooler temperatures for living conditions than L. rubellus.
What kind of worms do I have? The ones in my bin (and pictured above) are called Lumbricus rubellus. They are very popular for commercial production and for composting. They do well indoors and out (except in colder regions). They don't mind living in crowded conditions. This type of worm came to the USA from Europe. It is much more active than any of the worms native to the North American continent, so tends to take over the territory once introduced. That is good, because more active earthworms mean better soil faster. The plants do well, and the plants feed us all, directly or indirectly.
Lumbricus rubellus is often found under layers of decaying leaves outdoors or in manure piles. They are not the worms that go deeper into the soil. Those might be Allolobophora caliginosa (field worm) or the much larger Lumbricus terrestris (night crawler). My reading thus far indicates that only night crawlers make permanent homes. Their home is a small vertical burrow, very smooth inside, that just fits the nightcrawler's body diameter. If one digs up a nightcrawler's home, he must build another. It might take him/her 4 months. The other worms just move about wherever there is food and moisture and the right temperature and don't have a "home base."
The result of this knowledge is that when I planted those 12 trees last weekend, I felt a little sad about digging up worm homes and wounding worms with my shovel. I did get past it though, and went on to plant all the trees. The worms will rebuild (and regenerate a body part if they can). After all, that is a worm's life.
Why didn't I just make my own worm bin?
Certainly, it would have been much less expensive. However, the home made bin systems seem to involve handling the worms a lot more (or just sacrificing them and starting over with new worms). I don't mind handling the worms at all, but I have other things to do.
From the many accounts I read of other people's experiences, getting the amount of moisture, food, bedding, and worms in the right balance was difficult. Also, these bins have drain holes in the bottom, and all that compost liquid has to go somewhere. It sounded inefficient and messy. I like the idea of the worms moving to fresh quarters on their own. I did NOT relish the idea of sorting everything in my worm bin into 12 piles and separating out the worms (one method).
Another method involves just leaving everything in the bin until the worms eat all of the food and compost it. Then all the worms die and become compost themselves. You use the result of this mass murder. It seems like a cruel method to me, and certainly a waste of good worms.
The commercially made Can-O-Worms deals with the sorting issue by having the worms move themselves about. The worms thrive and reproduce. There is room for expansion of the living quarters (and it doesn't take up any more floor space). It also deals with the drainage issue by having a collector tray with a spigot. I plan to dilute that drained liquid with water and use it on my plants. A very tidy system altogether. Works just fine to have it in the house. (No, I don't sell Can-O-Worms or have any financial stake in the company that makes it.)
Why do I have the worms in my house?
Worms do their best work when their living quarters are at a temperature between 50 and 70 degrees Farenheit. I will keep them outside (in a shady area) during the summer and early autumn.
Look carefully at the image at the top of this page.
I took a handful of worms from the bin and put them directly on the scanner bed. There were worms of all ages. Since they don't like light, they started forming a ball to try to avoid it. The infants and juveniles went to the center of the ball, so the resulting scan doesn't show many of them. They were scanned at 200 percent, so they are twice normal size in the image.
The worms clearly did not enjoy the "photo session," so I only scanned them once and then put them back in the bin. They did not have to pose numerous times as did the slugs.
Infant worms are tiny and transluscent. They're 1/2 to 1 inch long. As they grow and age, they darken in color, but still are somewhat transparent. In the image above, you can clearly see the blood veins of "Alex" and "Pat."
A bit of worm anatomy
The front end of a worm is called the "anterior," and the back end is called the "posterior." The worm's mouth is in the first segment of the anterior. There is a small sensitive pad of flesh (sort of a lip) protruding above the mouth. This "lip" is called the "prostomium." The prostomium is used for sensing food.
Worms do not have teeth, so mostly they must eat very small soft pieces of food. (It is broken down for them by other creatures such as bacteria, making it easy to digest.) Worms DO have a sort of gizzard (like a bird) in which mineral particles help to break down their food, grinding it into smaller pieces and mixing it with fluid. You should add some soil, sand, or finely crushed eggshells to your worm bin to give the worms something to work with. More on worm anatomy and other facts of life later.
What is the thread-like, completely white worm in the family photo above?
Well, it's not one of the immediate family. Most likely it is a type of worm called entrachyadids. There are lots of them in the bin, indicating acidic conditions, but they don't hurt the worms, and they eat garbage, too, so I have made them welcome.
There are also thousands (maybe even millions) of even tinier (haven't measured them) short white creatures that jump very well. So far, the word I'm getting is that they are springtails. They eat fungus. One worm scientist had a very amusing response to my inquiry about these creatures. When I find it, I'll put it up. (Still haven't found it, but I haven't given up!)
No comments:
Post a Comment