(Savigny, 1826)
Description
Middle-sized earthworms. Body yellowish green, seldom pink. Chaetae closely paired. Three separate pairs of tubercula pubertatis: in XXXI, XXXIII and XXXV. Clitellum from XXIX or XXX to XXXVII. Length 26-85 mm, body diameter 3-5 mm, segment number 66-144. Easily distinguishable from the other earthworms both by colour (if green), and by the number of tubercula pubertatis.
Burrowing in soil and sediment.
Distribution
Western Palaearctic, introduced into both Americas and New Zealand.
Ecology
In soil, mostly in moist places; sometimes in shallow water.
Reproduction
Sexual only. Eggs laid in cocoons.
Literature
Savigny, 1826: 182; Hoffmeister, 1843: 189; Eisen, 1873: 46-47; Graff, 1953: 70, Fig. 71; Bouché, 1972: 263; Plisko, 1973: 111-113, Figs 117-119; Reynolds, 1977: 36-39, Fig. 4; Sims and Gerard, 1985: 50-53, Fig. 12.