In this study, we performed ecotoxicity tests of sodium arsenite on soil invertebrate Eisenia fetida. Initially, broad range of sodium arsenite (0.1, 1, 10, 100mg/ml) was tested for mortality of E. fetida after 24 hours in filter paper test. The narrow range doses (0-1mg/ml) were further tested to determine the EC50 and LD50. The EC50 dose of sodium arsenite was considered at which 50% of earth...

In spite of the high relevance of lumbricid earthworms ('Oligochaeta': Lumbricidae) for soil structure and functioning, the taxonomy of this group of terrestrial invertebrates remains in a quasi-chaotic state. Earthworm taxonomy traditionally relies on the interpretation of external and internal morphological characters, but the acquisition of these data is often hampered by tedious dissections...

Nine toxicity tests were conducted using a procedure based on the OECD (1984) artificial soil earthworm toxicity test. For each test, Eisenia jet ida were exposed to zinc in a range of artificial soils with differing pH and/or organic matter (0 M) content. Earthworm survival and cocoon production, and the concentrations of zinc in two fractions (nitric acid extractable, water extractable) and t...

While many blood substitutes are based on mammalian hemoglobins (e.g., human hemoglobin, HbA), the naturally extracellular hemoglobins of invertebrates (a.k.a. erythrocruorins, Ecs) are intriguing alternative oxygen carriers. Specifically, the erythrocruorin of Lumbricus terrestris has been shown to effectively deliver oxygen in mice and rats without the negative side effects observed with HbA....

Identifying the earthworm material recently collected from different parts of Bulgaria (Rila Mountain, Danube plain, Thracian Lowland and Sub-Balkan valleys) resulted in twelve records of lumbricids, including two earthworm species discovered for the first time in the country. The occurrence of Cernosvitovia munteniana Zicsi & Pop, 1991 in Bulgaria and also on the territory of the Balkan Penins...

The aim of this study was to assess the decomposition efficiency of earthworms, local (L.mauritii) as well as exotic (Eisenia foetida) in vermicomposting of garden litter in SRM University campus. The vermicompost produced through vermicomposting of garden litter mixed with cow dung in the ratio of 3:1 by using local and exotic earthworms (Eisenia foetida) was rich in ammoniacal nitrogen, nitra...

The aim of the present study was to assess the genotoxicity reduction in post vermicompost feed mixtures of bagasse (B) waste using earthworm Eisenia fetida. The genotoxicity of bagasse waste was determined by using Allium cepa root chromosomal aberration assay. Bagasse was amended with cattle dung in different proportions [0:100 (B0) 25:75 (B25), 50:50 (B50), 75:25 (B75) and 100:0 (B100)] on d...

A laboratory microcosm experiment was conducted to determine whether the earthworm Eisenia fetida could survive in a saline soil from a field site in North China, and an experiment using response surface methodology was conducted at that field site to quantify the effects of E. fetida and green waste compost (GWC) on the salt content of the soil. The microcosm results showed that E. fetida surv...

This paper reconsiders Andrei Shleifer and Robert Vishny’s suggestion that a socialist industry will always prefer to cut both price and output relative to a market– clearing equilibrium in order to maximise bribe income. The evidence from recent archival studies of the Soviet economy does not support this conjecture. To understand the evidence we present an analytical framework within which a ...