AKTICLE IV. — Land Planarians from Lord Howe Island, by W. Baldwin 

 Spencer, M.A., Professor of Biology in the University of Melbourne. 



Part I. — Description of Species. (With Plates 5 and 6.) 



(Bead Thursday, June 11th, 1891.) 



The following paper deals with an interesting collection of land Planarians 

 which were obtained by Mr. Thomas Whitelegge for the Australian Museum during 

 a visit paid by a collecting party, despatched by order of the Trustees of the Museum 

 to Lord Howe Island in 1887. 



The material was first placed for examination in the hands of Mr, J. J. Fletcher, 

 to whom we are indebted for the description of the various species of land planarians 

 found in New South Wales. Mr. Fletcher being unable to devote the necessary 

 time to their elucidation kindly offered, with the consent of the trustees of the 

 Museum, to place the material at my disposal. 



The specimens are excellently preserved, and I have had the advantage of the 

 short notes made by Mr. Whitelegge at the time of collecting them giving some 

 little information with regard to their colour and length. The specimens all came 

 from under the leaves of palm trees. 



On the Australian continent two genera of land planarians are well-known, viz., 

 Geoplana and Rhynchodemus. Of the former 35 species have been described, 

 and of the latter six species, five from New South Wales, and only one as yet from 

 Victoria. The latter is known only from one specimen which I collected in 

 Croajingolong, near to the New South Wales border, and to which Dr. Dendy has 

 given the name of R. victories. In addition to these two genera, the introduced form 

 Bipalium kewense has been recorded by Mr. Fletcher from both New South Wales 

 and Victoria. 



Thus in Australia the genus Geoplana is the predominant one. New Zealand 

 has as yet been scarcely worked for land planarians and from the Polynesian region so 

 far as I am aware, the only land planarians recorded come from the Samoan Islands, 



