Winter Inactivity

[Steve]

Hello all. I have a question that hopefully someone can help me out with. My worms reside in homemade storage bins in the basement. As the temperature has been dropping I have noticed that they have started to eat less food. I expected this from so many experienced vermicomposters explaining that the worms activity slows down in the winter. My concern is that while they are eating, albeit very slowly, they have completely stopped reproducing. It has been quite some time since I've caught any worms "doing the deed" (not that I'm a peeping tom or anything) or have seen a single cocoon. Is this common for reproduction to completely stop in the winter?

[Bentley Christie]

Hey Steve - what is the temperature is your basement? Also - would you happen to have any pictures of your worms?
According to Dr. Clive Edwards (well-known vermicomposting researcher at Ohio State U) lower temps actually stimulate reproduction. Based on his studies, he suggests that 15 C (59 F) is actually the ideal temp for breeding.

The reason I asked about worm pics, is that I've seen evidence to suggest that some people have cultures of PEs, even though they were sold "Red Worms". An easy test involves putting some worms in a container (with air holes) and leaving them to sit overnight in the refrigerator. Red Worms should survive, while PE's usually won't.

Breeding in PEs would definitely slow down a lot a cooler temps.

Anyway - just some thoughts

[Brad]

Forgive my ignorance .....but whats a PE?

[Steven Chow]

PE = Perionyx Excavatus

[Steve]

I don't have any pictures at the moment, but I could probably get some. My basement is about 50-60 F right now.

I am fascinated by this. I don't think that my worms are PEs, but I obviously could be wrong. Don't PEs have a blue sheen to their skin? My worms definitely don't have that. I will try the refrigerator test though, that sounds easy.

[Bentley Christie]

Hey Steve,
PE's don't necessarily have an overly obvious blue sheen - I have some that look quite similar to Red Worms. Definitely some distinguishing features though. They tend to be quite uniform in width then tapered at either end (no real thickened region at the front like Reds). The tail tends to be quite pointed ("spiketails" is actually one of their nicknames) whereas the Red Worm tail is somewhat rounded. Red Worms also tend to have a yellowish/orange tail tip. The clitellum in PEs is a lot closer to the front of the head that in Reds.
PE's tend to move really quickly and with a somewhat jerky motion.

I'll see if I can get a decent shot of both in the same pic for comparison.

[Anne]

Did you ever figure out if it may be due to temp or different worms?