OLIGOCH/ET WORMS FROM DUMBARTONSHIRE 19 



OLIGOCH/ET WORMS FROM 

 DUMBARTONSHIRE. 



By the Rev. Hilderic Friend, F.L.S. 



Through the kindness of Mr Wm. Evans, F.R.S.E., I 

 received during the month of October a small collection of 

 Earthworms and Enchytneids, the names of which it seems 

 desirable to place on record, together with a few explanatory 

 notes. The worms were collected by Mr Evans on 8th 

 October at Ardpeaton, on the east side of Loch Long. The 

 Earthworms, of which there were nine species, do not present 

 any features of special interest, seeing that they are all very 

 widely distributed. They are as follows : 



1. Lumbricus terrestris, or the Common Earthworm. 



2. Lumbricus rube litis, or the Red Worm. 



3. Lumbricus casfanei/s, or the Purple Worm. 



4. Alloiobophora longa, which is usually confused with No. 1 and 



regarded as the Common Earthworm. The position of the 

 girdle, however, is alone sufficient to differentiate them. 



5. Alloiobophora caliginosa. 



6. Eisenia fcetida, or the Brandling. 



7. Dendrobcena subrubicunda, or the Gilt-tail. 



8. Dendrobcena arborea, or the Treeworm. 



9. Allurus tetrcedrus, or the Square-tailed Worm. 



There were also seven species of Enchytraeids or White 

 Worms. This group is a very large and important one. 

 The species range from 2 to 30 mm. in length, and are most 

 plentiful in decaying vegetable matter. They are very 

 liable, as are all the Oligochaeta, to be attacked by parasites, 

 and I found a nematode in one and gregarines in another. 

 The species of special interest was a member of the genus 

 Mesenchytraeus, and it deserves a few remarks. M. beumeri 

 was first described in 1886 by Michaelsen. He says that the 

 lateral bundles contain three to five, and the ventral five to 

 eight setae. The specimens from Ardpeaton had in several 

 instances twelve setae in the ventral bundles, and eight to ten 

 was the normal number. The brain is defined as broader 

 than long, wider in the anterior than in the posterior portion, 

 with a slightly incised or concave hinder border. In every 



