Eisenia fetida
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| Eisenia foetida Savigny, 1826 |
Eisenia foetida, more commonly known as redworms or brandling worms, are a special type of earthworm adapted to the environment of decaying organic material. They thrive in rotting vegetation, compost, and manure. Interestingly, they are rarely found in soil, and instead, like redworms (Lumbricus rubellus), prefer these types of conditions where other worms cannot survive.
They are encountered most often as fishing bait. Also, owing to their ability to speed the process of converting compost into soil, they are thus used in areas where they occur naturally. In addition, they are commonly used to process kitchen waste into worm castings. This process is known as vermiculture, with an end result of vermicompost.
When introduced into soils where they are not endemic, they will damage ecosystems by changing soil composition. These areas include soils of sandy loam, pine barrens, and possibly others. Such possible causes of contamination can be careless fishermen, trees or soil trucked in from other areas, transportation of potted plants, etc.de:Kompostwurm
