Lumbricus rubellus is also well known as a species of composting worm – and like Eisenia foetida it prefers conditions where other worms are unable to survive. Other worms on the market include Lumbricus hortensis, Lumbicus terristris, Eudrilus engeniae, Eisenia andrei, and Perionyx excavatus.

Earthworms in general belong to a class of creatures called “annelids”, with the distinguishing trait of a cylindrical body, segmented both outside and inside. Of the approximately 4500 listed species of worms in the world, about 2500 are earthworm species.

Red worms are sexually mature at eight to ten weeks. They are a hermaphrodite species that mate at any time of year.
When worms do mate, the new worms are born from cocoons; the cocoons turn red when the new worms are about to emerge, and they are about the size of a grape seed. It takes about three weeks for a worm to develop within a cocoon once it is produced.

Although a cocoon can hold as many as ten eggs, in the most common scenario only three or four worms will be seen to emerge from one. West Country Worms is one company that sells composting worms.

The earthworm species most used in the process (composting worms) are mostly Red Wigglers (Eisenia foetida), but European nightcrawlers (Eisenia hortensis) may also be used, as well as more acid-tolerant worms called dendrobaenas or dendras.
Worm composting is a common activity in locations over the world, although it is particularly large-scale in Canada, Italy, Japan and the US. Worm composting has its uses in farming and landscaping, such as in the manufacture of compost tea.

There are two systems of larger-scale worm composting, the first type using a windrow, which is just a body of bedding materials for the earthworms to live in; and there is always an abundance of organic matter for them to feed on, which is continually added to.

The second system is the raised bed flow-through system, which locates an inch of worm food across the top of the bed while an inch of castings is harvested from below when a breaker bar is pulled across the large mesh screen which constitutes the base of the bed.
Worm composting operatives may wish to note that the most kinds of worm composting worms – Eisenia foetida, Eisenia andrei and Lumbricus rubellus – feed most rapidly at temperatures of 59 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit (15-25 degrees Celsius). They can survive at 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius).