Pests & Diseases


Dendrodrilus rubidus, Eiseniella tetraedra, Heliodrilus oculatus, Lumbricus rubellus, Lumbricus castaneus, Lumbricus festivus, Lumbricus friendi and Satchellius mammalis.


Endogeic earthworms


Endogeic earthworms live in and feed on the soil. They make horizontal burrows through the soil to move around and to feed and they will reuse these burrows to a certain extent. Endogeic earthworms are often pale colours, grey, pale pink, green or blue. Some can burrow very deeply in the soil. Endogeic earthworm species include Allolobophora chlorotica, Apporectodea


caliginosa, Apporectodea icterica, Apporectodea rosea, Murchieona muldali, Octolasion cyaneum and Octolasion lacteum.


Anecic earthworms


Anecic earthworms make permanent vertical burrows in soil. They feed on leaves on the soil surface that they drag into their burrows. They also cast on the surface, and these casts can quite often be seen on tuf areas. They also make middens (piles of casts) around the entrance to their burrows. Anecic species are the largest species of earthworms in the UK. They are darkly coloured at the head end (red or brown) and have paler tails.


Anecic earthworm species include Lumbricus terrestris and Apporectodea longa. It is accepted that earthworms offer huge


benefits to their chosen environment and they are often referred to as ‘ecosystem engineers’. Much like human engineers, earthworms change the structure of their environments. Different types of earthworms can make both horizontal and vertical burrows, some of which can be very deep in soils. These burrows create pores through which


oxygen and water can enter and carbon dioxide can leave the soil. Earthworm casts (their faeces) are also very important in soils


PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 I 127


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