Moniligaster cernosvitovi Gates, 1962

Moniligaster perrieri Michaelsen, 1907 sensu Stephenson, 1924: 322,”partim” (Gates 1940: 496).

Moniligaster beddardi Gates, 1940: 496 .

Moniligaster cernosvitovi Gates, 1962: 355, nom. nov. pro M. beddardi Gates, 1940, non M. beddardi Rosa, 1890, (now Drawida beddardi).

Brief description. Colour deep bluish. Dimensions: 216–256 mm by 12.5–13 mm, segments 216–256. Spermathecal pores large transverse slits, at cd, at intersegmental furrow 7/8. Male pores paired, transverse slits, at media half of bc. Gizzards 4–5, in segments 15–22. Testis sacs in segment 10. Vas deferens coiled into a mass of hairpin loops, mass as large as or larger than testis sac, discharging directly at ectal end of the prostate gland; prostates vertical, U-shaped, capsule tubular with several, low, rounded nodulations. Spermathecal atrial glands in segments 7 and 8, duct of each atrial gland about one fourth the length of common atrial duct, which is stout and thickened entally.

Material examined. 2 aclitellates (ACESSD /EW/786), roadside within tea plantation close to shola forest, Nemakkad (N10°08'39.85" E77°01'56.4"), Munnar hills, Idukki District, Kerala, India, 07 August 2017, 1973 m a.s.l., B. Balachandran and N.G. Vishnu .

Distribution. India: Kerala State: Idukki District: Nemakkad (present record) in Munnar hills (Fig. 4). Elsewhere. Kodaikanal, Shembaganur in Tamil Nadu (Gates 1940).

Remarks. The species is recorded for the first time from Kerala. It was previously known only from Tamil Nadu (Gates 1940). In Kerala, it is confined to the higher altitude shola-grassland ecosystem of Nemakkad near Munnar.