
Are my earthworms invasive?
If you live north of the glaciation line, you
might want to check out this pdf
key to invasive earthworms. You can read about the ecological
groups of earthworms here,
and can also see photos of some of the worst invasives. We should
all be very careful about any earth-moving operations which can
introduce invasive worms, and should definitely refrain from dumping
excess bait worms in the wild.
The question I really wanted answered, though, was --- should I hunt
down my vermicomposting worms and smash them? Lumbricus rubellus is an
invasive species which is occasionally used in worm bins.
Luckily, most vermiculture worms are Eisenia
fetida, a species that appears to be safe to use, even though
it's not from around here. You can identify the troublesome L. rubellus
by its dark red to maroon color with a yellow underside and no striping
between segments. If you have it, kill it! Luckily, it
looks like our worms are Eisenia.
This post is part of our Earthworms in the Garden lunchtime series.
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About us:
Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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