“62 MR. F. E. BEDDARD ON A (Dec: 12, 
9, On a new Enchytreid Worm (Henlea lefroyi, sp. n.) from 
India destructive to the Eges of a Locust ( Acridium sp.). 
By Frank E. Bepparp, ‘M. A., I’.R.S8., Prosector to the 
Society. 
[Received October 5, 1905. ] 
Dr. 8. F. Harmer, F.R.S8., of King’s College, Cambridge, was 
so good as to forward to me recently a tube of small white worms 
for identification and study. These had been sent to him from 
India by Mr. H. Maxwell Lefroy, Entomologist to the Government 
of India, who discovered that they attacked and destroyed the eggs 
of a locust belonging to the genus Acridiwm when the ground in 
which those eggs were deposited i is moist. 
Dr. Harmer directed my attention to the fact that they were 
Oligochetous worms; they prove to be a species of the family 
Enchytrieide, and were in a good state of preservation for 
microscopical examination. The family, as 1s well known, occurs 
in damp earth as well as in water; it is not so purely aquatic as 
are some of the families of the ‘ Microdrili.” 
The species appears to be new, and presents a certain number 
of characters which in combination render its inclusion in any 
already defined genus difficult. I shall, however, describe its 
characters before proceding to discuss its systematic position. 
The species is smal], 3-4 mm. in length and, as, already mentioned, 
white. The sete are curved and of the usual Enchytreeid form ; 
they are, however, rather few in number in each bundle, though 
present upon all the segments of the body, with the exception of 
the first and apparently the twelfth (in the mature worm with a 
clitellum). The lateral bundles possess two sete apiece, and the 
ventral bundles three; very occasionally I observed three sete in 
a dorsal bundle. This arrangement extends from end to end of 
the body. 
The number of segments in a large specimen is 27. 
I could detect no dorsal pores. 
The clitellum and other external characters call for no 
remark. 
The alimentary canal shows certain characters which assist in 
the placing of the species. Peptonephridia are present and of 
very small length, though I am unable to give any details con- 
cerning them. The cesophagus appears to pass without any break 
into the intestine; I can find no demarcation between these two 
sections of the gut. Behind the clitellum the gut is of course 
much wider than it is in front of that region of the body. 
Furthermore, I can discover no ceca or pouches of any description 
appended to the gut. It is a simple tube without outgrowths. 
The septal glands of this species extend back as far as the sixth 
segment, in which the last pair occur ; in front of this pair and 
in segments iv. and v. are equally prominent pairs of septal 
glands. 
