Trocheta subviridis: informal literature review

There isn't a vast body of literature on my foolishly stamped on but new best friend, T. subviridis. Gray (1922) caught my eye for several reasons. It refers to the finding of the leech in an allotment, in South Shields, of all places. This would appear to be the most northerly example at that time. The allotment exhibits similarities to mine: "As there is no drainage system, the land has been trenched to the depth of one and a half spits, and a well sunk in the clay in one corner, into which an endeavour is made to collect water in winter", though my endeavours at drainage have been more successful with the Council's drain operating as an overflow to my pond, also "sunk in the clay".  

A population was studied in a stream in Bristol by Hartley (1962). The stream was subject to sewage contamination, and this chimed with the allotment in Gray, which was treated with "night soil". (I can say that in 1922 most houses in south Tyneside did not have flush lavatories, and that a household's excrement was removed at night through a door beneath the lavatory in the house's back yard, in a terraced row of houses' back lane. It was then distributed for agricultural and allotment use). Hartley suggests the leeches have a lifespan of 4-5 years, and that the adults spend most of their time away from the stream. Reynolds (1996) also notes the leech's residence in drains and sewers. 

Warwick (1960) refers tantalizingly to an "unpublished occurence" of T. subviridis in Glasgow. 

 There is nothing else, so far as my limited searches go. If and when I find and photograph any more specimens, I have to hope that any researchers interested in T. subviridis find their way here...
 


Gray, R. H. (1922). The occurrence of a Leech (Trocheta subviridis) in an Allotment. Parasitology, 14(3-4), 320-321.

Hartley, J. C. (1962). The life history of Trocheta subviridis Dutrochet. The Journal of Animal Ecology, 519-524.
Reynolds, J. D., & Tenison, M. (1996). Trocheta subviridis Dutrochet, a Leech New to Eastern Ireland. The Irish Naturalists' Journal, 25(8), 302-302.
 
Warwick, T. and Mann, K. H. 1960 The freshwater leeches of Scotland. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. Ser. (13) 3, 25-34.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LTPTP XXV: We Shall Overcome

Image
We shall indeed.  It's a lovely wee tune to learn.  I've almost memorized it this morning, the idea being, when I encounter a piano, I want something to sit down and play on the bugger.  I've a feeling that my keyboard's keys are lighter than a proper piano's, and there'll be a bit of effort transferring the skills I've gotten so far.  Probably, at some point this year, I'll be in workplace with a piano.  I'll print off some simple music and scales, and work at it, but it's likely to be in a public place so I want something to avoid making a twat of myself initially. It feels right that this should be the first tune I learn by heart.
Read more

Leech or flatworm? Ants and Swiss Chard

Image
For the 2nd time in a week or so, (1st time regarding dwarf beans ), I'm following Alys Fowler's advice, this time with regard to Swiss chard .  Long story short, after midsummer plants which often bolt if planted in spring will resist the impulse to do so, probably because of shortening days; (I say shortening, but in Glasgow, in July, we're still getting 18 hours of daylight).   I got a packet of Bright Lights , at a good price, (another reason to wait until July before sowing, lots of bargains, I've noticed). But where to sow them? Most of the 2nd bed is under a tarpaulin, but it wasn't quite big enough to cover the whole bed, so the last 5ft or so went under a sheet of plastic, (in the background of the photo in this post, here .) Transparent plastic was a foolish idea, weeds were growing underneath it, so I covered most of it with sheets of metal from the old shed. I decided to leave the tarp, but use the area beneath the plastic for the chard. Who-ah there
Read more

VINEGAR!

That wine I started a while back has turned to vinegar. Well, that answered questions I was asking myself back then, viz., 'Do we get vinegar flies around here?' And, 'Are all these little flies vinegar flies?' The fuckers. I thought I was being a clever recycler, not buying proper air-locks and using the old plastic-and-lacky-band method. Ah well, another step up another learning curve. Anybody need three gallons of white wine vinegar and two gallons of the impossibly exotic strawberry wine vinegar? It's been a 'business day', dealing with officials and filling out forms. Don't get me started! Alex came over tonight. He gave me the Aphonic CD (he's been in touch with them and they sent him several copies). I thoroughly approve of this new trend of bands getting their work known over the internet, by-passing (initially at least) the poisonous attentions of the music industry. Come to think of it, some of the people in that business are rat
Read more