Metaphire posthuma ( Vaillant, 1868 )

Chang, Chih-Han, Snyder, Bruce A. & Szlavecz, Katalin, 2016, Asian pheretimoid earthworms in North America north of Mexico: An illustrated key to the genera Amynthas, Metaphire, Pithemera, and Polypheretima (Clitellata: Megascolecidae), Zootaxa 4179 (3), pp. 495-529 : 519

14. Metaphire posthuma ( Vaillant, 1868)

( Figures 1 J, 20)

Perichaeta posthuma Vaillant, 1868: 146 .

Pheretima posthuma — Gates 1958: 31; 1982: 61.

Metaphire posthuma — Sims & Easton 1972: 239. Reynolds & Wetzel 2004: 88; 2008: 181. Reynolds 2011: 281.

Data sources. Gates (1937, 1972, 1982); Tsai 1964.

Diagnosis. Size 60–210 mm by 3–8 mm. Segment numbers 91–140. Color of live specimens brown. Male pores paired in XVIII, in an invagination. Post-clitellar genital markings paired on setal circle on XVII, XIX, slightly median to male pores. Spermathecal pores four pairs, on the posterior margin of segments, just in front of 5/6/7/8/9. Pre-clitellar genital markings absent. Female pore single in XIV. First dorsal pore 11/12 or 12/13. Spermathecae four pairs in VI–IX, each with a short, stout duct and oval or heart-shaped ampulla; diverticulum stalk short and slender, seminal chambers usually longer than stalks. Prostate glands paired, extending through some or all of XV–XXI; accessory glands in XVII and XIX, corresponding to external genital markings. Intestinal caeca paired in XXVII, simple, extending anteriorly to XIV.

Remarks. The first record of M. posthuma in the continental US was in 1967 in Homestead, Florida ( Gates 1982). Reproduction of this species is amphimictic.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Color photographs of live individuals of (A) Amynthas agrestis, (B) Amynthas corticis, (C) Amynthas gracilis, (D) Amynthas hupeiensis, (E) Amynthas minimus, (F) Amynthas morrisi, (G) Amynthas tokioensis, (H) Metaphire californica, (I) Metaphire hilgendorfi, (J) Metaphire posthuma, (K) Pithemera bicincta, and (L) Polypheretima elongata, showing interspecific variations in colorations and body shapes. Specimens are from US (A, B, D, G, I) and Taiwan (C, E, F, H, J, K, L). Photo credit: Chih-Han Chang (A, B, D, E, G, H, I) and Wen-Jay Chih (C, F, J, K, L). The photographs of A. minimus and M. californica have been previously presented in Chang et al. (2009 a).