80 NATURE jULY 15, 1944, VoL. 154 well established at places scattered round the Yealm LETTERS TO THE EDITORS E3tuary in Devon. The possibility that it has been The Editors do not hold themselves responsible introduced into the northern hemisphere with some for opinions expressed by their correspondents. · Australian plant suggests itself. An account No notice is taken of anonymous communications. of this organism will be publiehed later. (2) In company with Rhynchodemus terrestris Terrestrial Nemertines and Planarians were found at widely separated places round the Yealm Estuary a very few specimens of a Rhyncho• in Britain demus clearly different from any recorded British IN September 1943 I made a search for terrestrial species. It .was some 6-10 mm. in length, of a brownish planarians in the woods around the Yealm Estuary, grey colour with . two longitudinal purple .brown South Devon. While doing so, a number of interest• stripes. Near the anterior end were · two highly ing organisms were brought to light. developed eyes with large lenses. The pointed snout ( 1) A terrestrial nemertine was found in the damper is commonly carried a little upturned, giving the woods under fallen branches and later under stones animal a somewhat ludicrous appearance of disdain. and wood in damp situations. in more open ground. The organism is frail, and identification must await It was commonly in company with the .triclad the collection of further specimens. In external char• Rhynchodemus terrestris and in places was numerous. acters, however, it agrees with Leidy's6 description It was found in widely separated places on .both of the .A:ffierican species Rhynchodemus sylvaticus sides of the Estuary. The characters of this nemertine Leidy. agree with those of Geonemertes dendyi Dakin. c. F. A. PANTIN. The specimens were 5-15 mm. long and in general Zoological Laboratory, were of a yellowish colour with two brown longitudinal Downing Street, stripes on each side of the rhynchocoel. But the Cambridge. colour varied from almost white to orange, dark June 6. brown or even a purplish pink. The specimens 1 Hett, M. L., Proc. Zool. Soc., Lond., 987 (l\127). possessed the arrangement of the eyes characteristic 'Stammer, H. J., Zool. Anz., 108, 305 (1934). of the species, that is, two anterior groups of 4--6 eyes •waterston, A. R., and Quick, H. E., Proc. ROI/. Soc. Edin., 67, 379 and two posterior groups of 3-5 eyes. The internal (1937). characters agree with those given by Hettl and 'Hett, M. L., Proc. Zool. Soc., Lond., 775 (1924). 2 • Dakin, W. J., Proc. Zool. Soc. LBirds and Butterflies 12 and in one case II. In all the species of this genus, DURING a month's leave in the Anamalai Hills, however, the number of proboscis nerves is variable, Cochin State, South India, I have been studying the and. in the two species closely related. to G. dendyi question of attacks by birds on butterflies. Both their number is greater than I 4. Of the many interest• place and season (February-March) were well suited ing anatomical features presented by these worms, to such a study. Too hills are covered by rain-forest, the most outstanding is the nephridial system. The holding a rich. fauna of insectivorous birds ; and existence of this was mentioned by Stammer, but has when I was there, shortly before the rains, some not been described by him or by others. In my forty species of butterflies were on the wing, and some specimens the nephridial system shows the same of these were common to abundance. peculiar characters·as those in related species of the Take fir