Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa” 63(1): 19-50, doi: 10.3897/travaux.63.e49099
Earthworms (Annelida: Clitellata: Megadrili) of Solan, a constituent of Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot, India
expand article infoShakoor Ahmed, Jatinder Mohan Julka§, Hirdesh Kumar
‡ Zoological Survey of India, Prani Vigyan Bhawan, M Block, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700053, India, Kolkata, India§ School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Shoolini University, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, 173 212, India, Solan, India
Open Access
Abstract

The present work is an update on the earthworm fauna of Solan District, Himachal Pradesh State, a constituent of Himalayan biodiversity hotspot. It is based on the field collection and published litera- ture data. Hereby, it is provided an updated list of 32 species belonging to 18 genera and seven families, namely Moniligastridae, Lumbricidae, Ocnerodrilidae, Acanthodrilidae, Benhamiidae, Octochaetidae and Megascolecidae. These mainly include exotic and native peregrine species, including exotic per- egrine Amynthas hupeiensis (Michaelsen, 1895), which was recently recorded for the first time from India. A systematic account of earthworm species with their distribution and a dichotomous key is provided for their identification.

Keywords
dichotomous key, distribution, endemic, exotic, native, taxonomy