Indian country leech
| Indian country leech | ||||||||||||
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Indian country leech ( Haemadipsa sylvestris ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Haemadipsa sylvestris | ||||||||||||
| Blanchard , 1894 |
The Indian land leeches ( Haemadipsa sylvestris ) is a kind of Landegel (Haemadipsidae), the humid forests at the bottom of India and Southeast Asia as a blood sucking parasite different vertebrates and the human affects.
features
The Indian country leech has a convex back and a flattened belly. With a length of up to 5 cm, it is the largest landing gel in India. The body is brown or yellow in color, but an area in the middle of the back is paler with three black stripes running along the back, of which the middle one is narrowest and sometimes interrupted or may be absent. There may be light orange or yellow longitudinal stripes on the sides. The third and fourth pairs of eyes are separated by a complete ring. A gripping papilla is barely developed or missing. The Indian country leech has 69 to 80, mostly 74 to 76 radial ribs on the ventral surface of the posterior suction cup. Like other leeches of the genus Haemadipsa , it has three jaws, each with a simple row of teeth.
Habitat and way of life
Haemadipsa sylvestris lives in damp places under bricks and stones or in damp soil. The leech sometimes goes into waters where it can swim well. It sucks blood on various mammals and also on humans and their domestic animals, causing very painful bite wounds.
distribution
The Indian land leech is widespread in India in the states of Tripura , Arunachal Pradesh , Assam , Meghalaya , Sikkim , Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, as well as in the Andaman Islands , as well as in Bangladesh , Myanmar , Borneo , Java and Sumatra . In the Himalayas , it is particularly common at altitudes between 1500 and 2000 m above sea level.
Reproductive cycle
Like other leeches, the Indian country leech is a hermaphrodite that has a penis as a jaw rule . With mutual copulation, the sperm is transferred through the penis directly into the gonopore of the sex partner. The eggs are laid in a protective cocoon, where they develop into ready-made little leeches.
literature
- Mahesh Chandra: The Leeches of India - A Handbook. Zoological Survey of India, High Altitude Zoology Field Station, Solan. Government of India, 1991. p. 105.
- GC Ghosh: Hirudinea. In: Fauna of Tripura , Part 4, State Fauna Series 1, ZSI, Calcutta 2000. pp. 1–355, (225–229), here p. 227.