202 MR. F. E. BEDDAUD ON EARTHWORMS [June 4, 



both, as is the series of transverse bars which mark the setae tlirough- 

 out. At the distal end, however, there are phxin differences. In 

 B.johnstoni the seta swells ovally just before its termination, and 

 on the ventral side of this there is a sharply marked ridge ; the 

 actual extremity is bent almost like a crozier, the end lying parallel 

 with the main shaft ; the very tip is slightly bifid. It is clear that 

 this does not agree with the figure given by Micbaelsen of 

 Benhamia itiolensls. Nor does his description of the penial setee 

 of the variety coerulea fit itself to what I have observed. Of the 

 seta in B. itiolensis var. coerulea, he remarks that it has a much 

 narrower distal extremity (as in B. johjistoni), and that there is also 

 an oval swelling which precedes this terminal hook (also as in 

 B. johnstoni) ; but the tip is apparently not so much hooked as in 

 B.johnstoni, and no mention is Diade of the bifid extremity. 



The two species Benhamia johnstoni and B. moorei evidently 

 come near to B. itiolensis ^ But they both differ in a number of 

 recognizable features from that large and also Eastern African 

 Benhamia. To begin with, B. itiolensis is distinctly larger, it 

 measures 380 mm. Its colour seems to be somewhat different. 

 The anterior segments are some of them triannulata instead of 

 biannulate, as is the case with the species described in the present 

 paper. Nothing is said by Micbaelsen of the missing dorsal pores ; 

 but in a variety of the type named by him var. coerulea, the 

 pores are stated not to begin until the intersegment xii./xiii. The 

 clitellum of B. itiolensis is more limited than in its allies ; but the 

 seminal gutter is convex inwards as in those two species. At least 

 that is not the case with the type itself, but with the form coerulea. 

 The spermiducal glands of B. itiolensis are very much smaller 

 than those of B. johnstoni or B. moorei, though their size appears 

 to be increased in the var. coerulea. The penial sette as figured 

 by Micbaelsen are more like those of B. johnstoni, but the hooking 

 of the extremity is more marked in the latter form ; moreover, no 

 ornamentation is described. In var. coerulea the extremity of the 

 seta is more hooked, and therefore more like that of B. johnstoni. 

 Finally, B. itiolensis has no free diverticula to the spermathecae, a 

 feature which is so obvious in the species described by myself that 

 Micbaelsen would hardly have overlooked it did it exist in his 

 Benhamia itiolensis. The differences between many species of this 

 genus (which requires revision) are often so small, that a very 

 careful and detailed statement of the characters is necessary. Tor 

 this reason I have not hesitated to deal with my supposed new 

 species at considerable length. 



It may be convenient to contrast the characteristics of the four 

 species in a tabular fashion. I shall consider the variety coerulea to 

 rank as a species ; its differences from B. itiolensis are quite as great 

 as those which divide many other recognized species of the genus. 



1 Micliaelseu, " Beschreibung der von Herrn Dr. Fr. Stuhlmann am Victoria 

 Nyanza geasammelten Terricolen," JB. Hamb. wiss. Aust. ix. p. 3 ; ibid., xvi. 

 p. 116 ; Regenwiirmer in DeutsebOst-Afrika, iv. p. 25; Oligochteta in 

 Thierreicli, 1900, p. 360. 



