The Feeding Behavior of Eisenia fetida

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The Feeding Behavior of Eisenia fetida

• René Mussell
• BIOL 4222
• Dr. Furlong
• December 7, 2007

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Purpose

• Maintain healthy Eisenia fetida specimens
• Design an efficient choice chamber
• Determine the food material E. fetida will consume

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Worm Factory

• Stacked porous plastic trays
• Lined with 4 sheets moistened
• folded newspaper
• Contained bedding of 75
• moisture content
• 2/3 paper shreds
• 1/3 leached peat moss
• 2 handfuls soil/sand
• 1 handful leaf litter
• 4 crushed eggshells
• Covered with 2 layers moistened
• newspaper and plastic lid
• (moisture control)
• 1,000 specimens Esinea fetida

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Initial Feeding Chamber Design

• Circular tin pie pan, 215mm diameter
• 8 Drilled holes in
• base of pan
• Equidistant from
• center of bowl
• Equidistant from each
• other
• 5.0mL test tubes
• Moistened absorbent
• paper
• 2 layers lining base of bowl
• Raised cardboard base

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Initial Experiment

• 4 experimental tubes, 4 control tubes
• Ground and unground cabbage
• Ground and unground lettuce
• Problems
• Ants
• Dessication of earthworms
• Earthworms escaping from feeding apparatus
• Variable humidity variable evaporation rate
• Earthworms needed to be starved for consistent
  mass measurement
• Water collecting in bottom of tubes
• Earthworms residing in tubes
• Earthworms depositing casting material in tubes

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Final Feeding Chamber Design

• Circular clear plastic bowl with aerated lid,
  8in? diameter
• 8 Drilled holes in base
• of bowl
• Equidistant from center of
• bowl
• Equidistant from each other
• 0.5mL Eppendorf tubes
• Moistened absorbent
• paper
• 2 layers lining base of bowl
• 3 layers on top of food material
• Raised base

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Final Procedure

• 5 worms were starved for 48 hours
• Starved worms were weighed and placed in feeding
  apparatus
• Each apparatus contained one worm and the test
  tube(s) holding the food material
• 1 tube 8020 Ground Grass/Garden Soil Mixture
• Contained several grasses common to Southeast US
• Dry-Mass Ratio
• Mixed and moistened
• The control apparatus was set up exactly the same
  as the experimental, without the worm

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Data, Final Experiment

• Mass of Control remained approximately the same
• Mass of Experimental increased first, then
  decreased
• Mass of worm remained within the normal mature
  range

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Calculations, Final Experiment
(Total D Mass) (D Mass, Evaporation) (D
Mass, Worm Feeding)
(D Mass, Evaporation)/(Total D Mass)100 (
Contribution, Evaporation)
(D Mass, Worm Feeding)/(Total D Mass)100 (
Contribution, Worm Feeding)
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Conclusion

• Healthy Esinea fetida specimens maintained in
  Worm Factory throughout course of experiment
• Efficient feeding chamber design finalized
• Esinea fetida demonstrated to consume 8020
  Ground Grass/Garden Soil within feeding chamber

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Follow-up Research

• Can the feeding chamber and food base be used to
  determine if Esinea fetida feed preferentially on
  a specific microorganism?

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Thanks!

• Clayton State University Natural Science
  Department
• Dr. Furlong, research advisor
• Dr. Burnett, biology coordinator
• Julie Kornder, lab partner
• Boey Khem Tan
• Heather Coleman, Andrea Clabaugh, Tyler Brock,
  materials setup

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Questions?