While the ANC may not be very cold tolerant it does have the advantage of being able to withstand high temperatures. [15] also reported thatrapid pre-reproductive phase of growth, followed by a phase ofprogressive biomass and growth reduction once sexual maturitywas attained. The resistant cocoons, which are tiny and roughly lemon-shaped, with shape differing between species, are usually deposited near the soil surface, except in dry weather when they are laid at deeper layers. No additionalfeed was added at any stage during the study period. Epigeic species of earthworms are litter dwellers and litter transformers; they live in organic soil horizons, in or near the surface litter, and feed primarily on coarse particulate organic matter.The experiments were conducted in cylindrical plasticcontainers. On the basis of their feeding and burrowing strategies, into three ecological categories: epigeic, anecic, and endogeic [2]. They are quickly becoming the most popular Composting Worms in America. Thesubstrate in treatment container was examined daily in orderto determine the onset of cocoon production. Two hatchlings were introduced into 100 g of cocoa, cashew, and a mixture of both residues after two weeks of traditional pre-composting. Under ideal conditions this species can process wastes very quickly and also has a very high rate of growth and reproduction. The development, growth and reproduction of E. eugeniae were studied. Hatchling earthworms, unpigmented and only a few millimeters in length on emerging from the cocoons, gain their adult pigmentation within a few days. Instant access to the full article PDF.Evans AC, Guild WJMcL (1948) Some notes on reproduction in British earthworms. This earthworm does very poorly at temperatures below 15 C (59 F), and will actually die quite quickly once temps are below 10 C (50 F).“On comparision which worm is better for research, Eisenia foetida or eudrilus eugeniae?” ~ Nirmala NatarajanI asked Alan Hanson, co-owner of Blue Ridge Vermiculture (breeder of European and African Nightcrawlers), about the ‘handling’ issues with ANCs and he mentioned that aside from some tendency to roam after harvesting they were generally a fairly easy-to-manage worm.The African Nightcrawler is certainly not without its benefits.Join 32,000 other readers just enter your details in the form below...Even with E. fetida’s versatility however, I’d personally recommend testing out both worms (unless you know that E. eugeniae will not do well) and see which works best for you. Growth declined after maturity drastically with coccon production. The incubation period for 166 cocoons was 16.89 days, based on cocoons produced by worms between the ages of 70 and 100 days. The highest total number of cocoon was attained in Eudrilus eugeniae (1016±31 cocoons at a reproduction rate of 0.21 ± 0.07 cocoon/earthworm/day) at 9 weeks and E. fetida (109 ± 14.9 cocoons at cocoon production rate of 0.39±0.05 cocoon/earthworm/day) was recorded in this study. Once the cocoonsappeared, they were separated by hand sorting, washed lightlyin distilled water and counted so as to determine total number ofcocoon and the fecundity or reproductive rate (cocoon/worm/day).Five hatchlings of earthworm species in good health conditionwere taken from the above containers for reproductive potentialdetermination. Edwards et al. Three replicates were preparedfor each substrate and worm combination. In E. eugeniae where maximum growth attained, E.eugeniae achieved their maximum weight achieved 1116±16.4 mg/worm at a growth rate of 17.43±1.4 mg/worm/day in the 7th week.Regarding the sexual maturity (clitellum development), E. fetidawas preclitelated on the second week and mature individual withclitellum totally developed started to emerge on the 3rd week and E.eugeniae was developed in 4th week of this experiment.To determine the incubation period (time lapse from cocoonformation until the first hatchling emerged in days), hatching success(total number of hatched cocoons), and number of hatchlings percocoons, fifteen freshly laid cocoons from treatment were takenfrom the above containers and placed in containers which containedthe same material in which their parents were reared.