AbstractThe ingestion of organic and mineral materials by earthworms is a prominent functional role that has profound consequences for the decomposition and stabilization of soil organic matter. To investigate the litter consumption of the African nightcrawler earthwormEudrilus eugeniaeunder different tropical conditions, we used DNA barcoding to identify specimens ofE. eugeniaecollected from sites across the Adamawa region in Cameroon, and studied the influence of habitat suitability (soil properties), soil moisture, litter type, and population density on litter consumption. A total of four litter consumption experiments were carried out using soils collected from refuse disposal sites, agricultural lands, and savannahs dominated by the Mexican sunflowerTithonia diversifolia. The results revealed that litter consumption significantly increased in the refuse disposal and agricultural soils as opposed to the Mexican sunflower (T. diversifolia) soil, a cow dung enriched substrate, and a sterile soil horizon from the savannah (P< 0.05). The optimum moistures for litter consumption were between 24% and 50%. Litter type did not affect the consumption rate of the earthworms (P> 0.05). We observed a general positive density‐dependent consumption with litter mass loss increasing with increasing density. Our results suggest thatE. eugeniaehas a strong direct effect on the decomposition of plant materials than expected from previous estimations, and that litter consumption rates are determined by several habitat components and population density.