RT Journal Article
T1 Life cycle and reproductive traits of the earthworm Aporrectodea trapezoides (Dugès, 1828) in laboratory cultures
A1 Fernández, Rosa M.
A1 Novo Rodríguez, Marta
A1 Gutiérrez López, Mónica
A1 Almodóvar Pérez, Ana María
A1 Díaz Cosín, Darío
AB The parthenogenetic earthworm Aporrectodea trapezoides (Dugès, 1828) is widely distributed all over the world due to European agricultural practices. In order to provide baseline life cycle data, cocoons were obtained from field-collected individuals and their features and viability, incubation period, number of hatchlings and mortality rate were recorded. Singleton and twin earthworms from this first experiment were cultured from hatching during a 490-day period under controlled conditions with biomass, survival, reproductive condition and cocoon production recorded at intervals of 15 days. On average, individuals of isolated-reared A. trapezoides reached maturity at day 153 and body weight at maturity was approximately 1 g. In order to record reproductive traits and differences between field-collected and laboratory-reared individuals, 40 microcosms with an isolated earthworm (20 with field-collected individuals and 20 with laboratory-reared ones) and 40 containing groups of three (20 with each type of individual) were maintained during a complete year under controlled conditions. The amount of soil per individual was the same in both types of microcosm. Both the individuals kept in isolation and those cultured in groups produced cocoons, hence completely proving the obligatory parthenogenetic reproduction in this species without copulation or need of any physical–chemical stimulus. In general, isolated earthworms produced a significantly higher number of cocoons than those in groups of three, and the same was recorded for laboratory-reared earthworms when compared with field-collected ones. This study highlights the importance of knowing the life cycle and reproductive traits of one possible key species in soil management due to its vast distribution and high density in soils, and the species’ highly recommended use in applied studies because of its ease of culture.
PB Elsevier
SN 0031-4056
YR 2010
FD 2010-08-10
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/114281
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/114281
LA eng
NO Fernández, R., Novo, M., Gutiérrez, M., Almodóvar, A., & Díaz Cosín, D. J. (2010). Life cycle and reproductive traits of the earthworm Aporrectodea trapezoides (Dugès, 1828) in laboratory cultures. Pedobiologia, 53(5), 295-299. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PEDOBI.2010.01.003
NO R. Fernández is currently supported by a research grant from Complutense University of Madrid (Spain). This study was funded by the Spanish Government
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
NO Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 10 abr 2025