CALIFORNIA EUDRILID®. 4] 
ARGILOPHILUS. 
Argilophilus Eisen, Zoe iy, 252, October, 1893. 
Prostomium encroaches on somite i. Eight setse in four couples, ventral, 
lateral and dorsal, commencing in somite 11. The sete of the inner couple not con- 
verging towards the male pore, but closer set than the sete of the outer couple. The 
alimentary canal consists of an eversible buceal cavity, a pharynx, cesophagus, gizzard, 
tubular intestine, sacculated intestine, typhlosole, but no cesophageal glands or pouches. 
Clitellum not developed ventrally, occupies somites xiii to xviii. 
Spermathecal pores, one pair vii /vili and one pair villi/ix. Ovipores in xiy- 
Male pore in xvili. One or two rows of ventral intersegmental papille. Two pair 
of spermatheex. Testes in x, xi. Sperm-sacs paired in x, xi, xii, generally enclos- 
ing the ciliated funnels and testes. Two pair of ciliated funnels. Two pair of sperm- 
duets, which join a pair of very large, tubular-coiled prostates in xviii, at the upper end 
of the muscular duct. Two penial setee open in the same pore, but not in the same 
duct as the prostate. 
Dorsal vessel and ventral vessels connected by 5 pair of hearts in xiv to x. No. 
subneural vessel. Blood red. Many blood vessels on the nephridia. No pepto-nephri- 
dia. The nephridio-pores variable as to location, the majority open in front of or lateral 
to the 4th sete, though many open interior to the 4th sete. No ccecal bladder at the 
exterior pore. Large earthworms with thick round bodies, of pale flesh color, mar- 
bled bluish. 
Distribution and habitat. The genus Argilophilus appears to be an undoubted 
native of the Pacific Coast. Specimens have been found in the San Joaquin Valley 
in California, and as far north as British Columbia (Vancouver Island). In California 
these worms are our most common earth worms, appearing close to the surface with 
the advent of the rains in the autumn and disappearing deep in the soil with the dry 
weather in May, after which time they are not any more found in even locally moist 
places. During the summer months I have sometimes dug up these worms from a 
depth of 5 to 6 feet or more, each worm tightly rolled up as a little ball and appear- 
ently encysted in a chamber of clay, the inner surface of which is smooth and hard. 
In these cysts the worms pass the dry season. ‘These worms are hardly ever found 
outside of heavy adobe or clayey soil; the more clayey the soil, the better the worms 
appear to thrive, provided also the soil is rich and fertile. In poor soil the worms are 
seldom seen, and the best indorsement for a soil is that it contains worms of this genus: 
The color of the worms of this genus is fleshy pink, thickly marbled, with steel 
or slate gray, (fig. 1382). The clitellum is yellowish red, and the whole anterior part 
is pinkish. The color of these worms is very handsome and distinguishes them from 
the deep brown Allolobophora so common in moist or swampy places in this State. 
Exterior characteristics (figs. 125-151). The most prominent exterior feature 
of this genus is the color which has just been described. Another is the frequent 
eversion of the lining of the buccal sae (fig. 130). As to size the worm must be 
