Microchaetus benhami Rosa, 1891

Plisko, Jadwiga Danuta, 2003, Eleven new South African earthworms (Oligochaeta: Microchaetidae) with new information on some known species, and an inventory of the microchaetids of KwaZulu-Natal, African Invertebrates 44 (2), pp. 279-325 : 288

Microchaetus benhami Rosa, 1891

Microchaeta benhami Rosa, 1891: 382 ; Reynolds & Cook 1976: 77 [‘ Typus amissus’].

Microchaetus benhami: Michaelsen 1900: 451, 1913 a: 538 , 1913 b: 61, 1918: 316; Pickford 1975: 24; Reynolds & Cook 1976: 77 [‘ Typus amissus ’]; Plisko 1992: 342, 1995 b: 46 [designation of a lectotype using material collected in Western Cape province, deposited in ZMH].

Remarks: Rosa (1891) described this species with no indication on the type locality. Michaelsen (1900 1913 a b 1918) and Pickford (1975) referred to the type collection site as ‘locality unknown’. Michaelsen (1913 a b 1918) and Pickford (1975) recorded species from arable soil in the area of Cape Town and Stellenbosch. Plisko (1992) discussed the similarity and relationships between mkuzi collected in KZN and benhami known from Western Cape, and considered the possibility of introduction of benhami into cultivated fields in Western Cape. No more material of benhami is known from Western Cape, and no occurrence of this species has been established in KZN.