Bipalium kewense Moseley 1878

Jones, Hugh D. & Sterrer, Wolfgang, 2005, Terrestrial planarians (Platyhelminthes, with three new species) and nemertines of Bermuda, Zootaxa 1001 (1), pp. 31-58 : 47

Bipalium kewense Moseley 1878 (Color Plate 4)

This species was first found in Bermuda before 1902 ( Verrill 1902). It continues to be found there (proof note by WS in Moore et al. 2001). Specimens were found in several locations during the February 2003 visit, and several contacts commented that they had seen this species on occasions. One mentioned that it frequently occurs in banana plantations, sheltering where the leaves join the trunk of the plants. It can be found almost anywhere in Bermuda. The specimens found in 2003 were mostly small for this species and none seemed sexually mature. It seems likely that in Bermuda it mostly reproduces by fission, the rear 3–5 cm breaking off and regenerating ( Winsor 1983). Bipalium kewense has a world­wide distribution through human agency, and feeds exclusively on earthworms. Beauchamp (1939) considered its origin to be tropical Indo­China, a view endorsed by Winsor (1983).