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European Crawlers are Thriving

european nightcrawler, eisenea hortensis, compost worms, worms, earthwormI think these are the European Crawlers (Eisenia hortensis), but what is strange is that theye were taken from my outdoor worm pit and are therefore, indigenous worms to my area. However, they look exactly like hortensis which I received from the worm farm (which I have in another bin). Anyhow, I have them mixed in with the excavatus and red wigglers and they seem to be reproducing and growing like crazy.

These are a few I picked out to photogragh, and some are probably 5″ long when outstretched. I had read that these are not as prolific as the Eisenia foetida (and certainly not the excavatus) but I am finding their numbers to be growing rapidly (if that is indeed what the fatter ones are). I would appreciate comments if anyone can tell.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 11:01 am and is filed under Worm Composting (Vermiculture). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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3 Responses to “European Crawlers are Thriving”

  1. Dwayne Says:
    June 12th, 2008 at 10:41 am

    Bailey,

    Are P.Excavatus native to North Florida?

    Thanks,

    Dwayne

  2. admin Says:
    June 12th, 2008 at 11:50 am

    Hi Dwayne. Though the Excavatus are not exclusive to only North Florda, they certainly are in abundance here. You might recall that after it has rained hard, you will find earthworms on sidewalks, streets, etc. Well those are the PEs roaming around.

  3. Dwayne Says:
    June 12th, 2008 at 1:54 pm

    Thank you for your prompt answer. I have several bins. One wooden Seattle Tilth Bin at work (no PEs) yet? I have some plastic bins at home with PE’s but I used a lot of leaves from my wetlands and I think there were earthworms in there. That may be where the PE’s came from. From reading I understand they are good composters and that they do not run off the EFs. I hope that is true. Have you ever had Black Soldier Fly Maggots? I have those too (I think) and between them and the PEs they are really eating!

    Thanks again,

    Dwayne

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