''Luteostriata abundans'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian

land planarian Geoplanidae is a family of flatworms known commonly as land planarians or land flatworms. These flatworms are mainly predators of other invertebrates, which they hunt, attack and capture using physical force and the adhesive and digestive proper ...

in the subfamily

Geoplaninae Geoplaninae is a subfamily of land planarians endemic to the Neotropical region. However, one species, ''Obama nungara'' has been introduced in Europe. Description The subfamily Geoplaninae was initially defined by Ogren and Kawakatsu (1990)Ogre ...

. It is a common species in human-disturbed areas in Brazil's southernmost state,

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

Description

''Luteostriata abundans'' is a small to medium-sized land planarian with an elongate body and parallel margins. The largest specimens have a length of about 60 millimeters or more. The dorsum has a yellow tinge, varying from cream to dark yellow or light brown and is marked by seven longitudinal dark brown to black stripes. The ventral side is cream. The numerous eyes are very small and hardly visible to the naked eye. They are distributed marginally on the first millimeters of the body and posteriorly become dorsal, covering the two most external stripes on each side. The eyes that cover the stripes are surrounded by halos, zones without pigmentation, which may be perceived as small clear dots.

Distribution

''Luteostriata abundans'' is found in human-disturbed areas and borders of semi-deciduous and deciduous seasonal forests in the region surrounding the

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

Metropolitan Area, state of

Diet

In the

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physicia ...

, the diet of ''L. abundans'' includes exclusively

woodlice A woodlouse (plural woodlice) is an isopod crustacean from the polyphyleticThe current consensus is that Oniscidea is actually triphyletic suborder Oniscidea within the order Isopoda. They get their name from often being found in old wood. ...

, which seem to constitute the main or only prey of most species in the genus ''Luteostriata''. ''Luteostriata abundans'' captures the prey by the use of quick muscular movements and adhesive secretions. As soon as the planarian touches the prey, it coils around it and starts to secrete mucus. The planarian then glides over the prey to bring it to the level of the mouth and everts the pharynx, piercing the woodlouse between its segments and beginning the ingestion of its contents.

References

External links

Friday Fellow: 'Abundant Yellow-Striped Flatworm'
at Earthling Nature. {{Taxonbar, from=Q25095464 Geoplanidae Invertebrates of Brazil