gon! PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION D. 
in all probability, has been accidentally imported, and, ac- 
cording to Michaelsen, may be identical with Fletcher’s M. 
tenar, from New South Wales. 
Thus, of the 55 well-established species of the genus 
Megascolex, more than 65 per cent. occur in Australia, and 
30 per cent. occur in Ceylon. 
Now, it is a remarkable fact that not only is Megascolex 
found in Ceylon, and practically confined to this island and 
Australia, but also Notoscolex shares in this distribution. 
In Ceylon it is represented by seven species, and is at 
present almost unknown elsewhere, one species, V. amert- 
canus (Smith), being recorded from America. 
Of Plutellus, we have only two species in Ceylon, and four 
species (occurring in the United States of America) are in- 
cluded by Michaelsen and by Beddard in the same genus. 
Exrra-AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTION oF CHARACTERISTIC 
AUSTRALIAN GENERA. 
e | | 
EotsB |e | eee 
So) ENS |S As ease 
4/O/FA |p l|olzieé 
A ea Se Rae 
Platells sce cease ae BOs Bul ae ap ee Mt eel 46 
INOTOSCOlOX” .s<c..sanesesen etter sce ccsenesees 18 56 Ue ab ae 26 
EP ARCOLEK: nore atadeehisrashacsasse eae cs SB TT 2 eel wes | ieew ane 
POLO CH OLGA sama coiasmiess cet sclesc ances ke os CB al tetera erel Relies Pc PAD) i it 
| 
I will emphasise this very important fact, that two, 
out of the three genera, are, to all intents and purposes, 
divided between Australia and Ceylon. The latter island 
contains, altogether, seven genera of earthworms, with 34 
species, excluding three genera with widely-spread species, 
which are probably introduced. It is a remarkable fact 
that 26 out of the 34, 7.e., 75 per cent., are referable to the 
three characteristic Australian genera, the remaining species 
belonging to Oriental genera. 
I have referred to the fact that both in Ceylon and Aus- 
tralia there occur species of a genus (Pheretima), or, as we 
have been accustomed to call it, Pericheta. This genus 1s 
by far the largest genus of earthworms, containing at least 
113 species, of which about 70 occur in the Malay Archi- 
pelago and the Moluccas; and numerous species occur also 
in the Philippines, in Burmah, Southern China, and Japan. 
It is, indeed, quite characteristic of the Oriental region, 
especially of the Indo-Malayan sub-region. A few stragglers 
have wandered thence to some of the islands of Melanesia 
