Drawida nepalensis Michaelsen, 1907

Kharkongor, Ilona J., 2018, Taxonomic and ecological studies on the earthworms (Annelida: Oligochaeta) of West Khasi Hills District, Meghalaya, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 118 (1), pp. 56-56 : 56-

27. Drawida nepalensis Michaelsen, 1907

1907. Drawida nepalensis Michaelsen, Mitt. Naturh. Mus. Hamb. , 24: 146.

1982. Drawida nepalensis : Julka, Rec. zool. Surv. India, 80: 147.

Material examined: 4 ex. Regn. No. IV /ANN/NERC-01. India, Meghalaya, WKH District, Nongkhnum-Lailad , N25 o 26’21.8”; E91 o 16’01.4”; Alt. 1377m, 24.vi.2010, coll. I.J.Kharkongor and party .

Diagnosis: Length 45-132 mm. Segments 115-166. Prolobic. Lumbricine. Dorsal pores absent. Clitellum annular, in 10-13. Male pores paired, on prominent transverse, oval, papillae in furrow 10/11. Spermathecal pores paired in 7/8. Genital markings (in some specimens) present as broad, transversely oval, mid-ventral cushions in segments 7 and 8.

Septa all present. Two – four gizzards in 12-20. Intestine from 27 or 28. Intestinal caeca absent.

Distribution: INDIA: Meghalaya (EKHD, EGHD, WGHD, JH, WKHD). Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Ja mmu & Kashmir, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Elsewhere: Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.

Remarks: This endogeic – polyhumic species thrives in soils rich in organic content. But it has been reported that it can live even in soil with little organic matter (Chaudhuri et. al., 2008). It is the most widely used species in vermiculture. Recorded, herein, for the first time from WKHD.