''Haemadipsa picta'' (common names: tiger leech, or less commonly, stinging land leech) is a large (up to 33 mm long) terrestrial leech found in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

, and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. It was described by

John Percy Moore John Percy Moore (1869–1965) was an American zoologist specialising in leeches. He was born at Williamsport, Pa. and was educated at the Central High School of Philadelphia (A.B., 1886) and at the University of Pennsylvania B.S., 1892; Ph.D., ...

based on specimens collected from

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

, Borneo. It preys primarily on medium- to large-sized mammals, including humans.

Ecology and behavior

''Haemadipsa picta'' occur on bushes and grasses about 1 metre or higher above the ground in moist forests. They are fast and actively moving, and even known to fall onto hikers from higher bushes or leaves. They attach themselves to the hands, arms, shoulders, and even neck of passers-by. The bites of this species are comparatively painful and difficult to heal, hence the common name "stinging land leech" (although '' Haemadipsa ornata'', with a similarly painful bite, would deserve this name too).

Description

''Haemadipsa picta'' measure in length. The anterior sucker diameter is and the posterior one . It is easily recognized by its longitudinally striped reddish brown dorsum: there is a broad, bluish-gray, yellow-greenish, or multicolored median-paramedian field that contains three to five black or dark brown broken stripes inside. There is also a white or pale yellowish longitudinal marginal stripe with dark-spotted borders. The venter is uniformly yellowish brown.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q15050646 Leeches Parasitic protostomes Invertebrates of Malaysia Invertebrates of Taiwan Fauna of Vietnam Animals described in 1929