An Account of Changes in the Earthworm Fauna of Illinois and a Description of One New Species

Abstract

The contents of this paper include additions to the list of species previously recorded from Illinois and also furnish evidence of obvious changes in the earthworm fauna of one locality which are probably similar to changes taking place in other parts of the state. The tendency is towards an increasing domination of European species and a corresponding decrease in the abundance of some indigenous forms. There are various records of similar modifications of the earthworm fauna in other parts of the world in which Europeans have settled and in which the European species of Lumbridae have to a greater or less extent re-placed the indigenous species.