Techniques for sampling earthworms and cocoons from leaf litter, humus and soil

Litter-inhabiting lumbricids were extracted by one-hour immersion in a dilute (0.025%) formalin solution. The method's efficiency, validated with 16 litter samples and 640 introduced worms, was 96%. A technique for obtaining lumbricids and cocoons from humus and soil was developed. Samples were handsorted, then washed through a coarse and a fine screen. By handsorting adults and most immatures were found. Repeated washing and search of sample remains proved to be highly reliable for recovering cocoons and small worms. Overall, sorting/sieving yielded 97.7% of all worms, 96.7% of cocoons, and almost 100% of worm biomass.