tio May, 



STUDIES IN IRISH ENCHYTR^IDS. 



BY THK RE;V. HII^Dl^RIC FRIEND. 



Through the kindness of Mr. Carpenter I am able to add 

 somewhat to our knowledge of indigenous white worms 

 (Encliytraeids), and at the same time propound a new theory 

 based on the material supplied. 



I. — Thk Aster Worm. 



On January 28th, 1902, I received some material from Mr. 

 Carpenter, consisting of decaying celerj^ leaves infested with 

 a pest. It had been sent to him from a garden at Monkstown, 

 Co. Dublin. 



A pocket lens at once revealed the presence of a destructive 

 and well-known white worm {EnchytrcBus parvuhis^ Friend), 

 and with it another species, about which I shall have some- 

 thing further to say later on. The first species {parvuhis) 

 has been known in England since Jul)', 1897, when I dis- 

 covered it in the vicinity of Birmingham, doing immense 

 harm among the Asters. I thereupon named it the Aster 

 Worm, and soon had specimens of sick Asters, suffering from 

 the same pest, from man}- parts of the country. Then it 

 was found among tulips (as in the Botanical Gardens, Cam- 

 bridge), fritillaries (in the Royal Gardens, Kew), and finally 

 in celery at my own residence near Birmingham. As the 

 description which I then drew up"" holds good for the speci- 

 mens from Ireland, I shall here content myself with repeating 

 my own definition. 



"Aster Worm: E7ichytrcBus parvidus, Friend. 



" The worm is 3 to 5 mm. in length, or about an eighth of 

 an inch. It is therefore the smallest species known to 

 science, since Tauber's E. ininutics is insufficiently described, 

 and cannot be certainly identified. Viewed under a pocket 

 lens it is white or silvery, and when seen under a microscope 

 the first six or seven segments are pellucid, while the 

 remainder of the worm's intestinal organs are covered with 

 dark cells. The character by which it may be most readily 



^ Vide Gardeners' Chronicle^ August 14th, 1897, p. 97. 



