DUTROCHET'S LEECH
Dutrochet's Leech (Trocheta subviridis Dutrochet)
occurs regularly in the heavy clay soils of the Chingford
area. In my garden it is found with great regularity,
especially when a spell of heavy rainfall has made the
London clay particularly sticky. This leech feeds upon
earthworms which it swallows whole. Following the
exceptional rainfall this June, the worms have been very
close to the surface and the leech predator has followed
them. It was with some surprise that I observed a blackbird
busy collecting food for a nestful of youngsters in the
hedge at the foot of my garden, carefully wiping clean on
the grass and then folding neatly into a series of zigzags
one of these leeches and take it off to feed the nestlings.
Whether or not this was a case of mistaken identity, the
blackbird thinking the leech was a worm, I cannot say, but
as the leech feeds upon worms it would appear that the end
result is the same,
Bernard Ward
References:
Some notes on the Natural History of British Fresh-Water
Leeches: with Records of their Occurrence in Essex. Henry
Whitehead B.Sc., Essex Naturalist xvii, 6l-85, 1913.
A Key to the British Freshwater Leeches with notes on their
Ecology, K.H. Mann B.Sc., Ph.D. & E.V. Watson B.Sc., Ph.D.,
Freshwater Biological Association Scientific Publication
No, 14 Second Ed. 1964,
CORRECTION
Our apologies to Mr, Laurence Harley for mis-spelling
his name in the last Bulletin.
W.R.M.
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