An updated earthworm list for the British Isles and two new ‘exotic’ species to Britain from Kew Gardens

Exotic earthworms have previously been recorded in the UK. Many of those records are from the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. Earthworms were collected from Kew on two separate occasions in 2007 (March and August). In total 6 species were found, of which two are new species records for the British Isles. When updating the British earthworm species list it became apparent that many species are not inhabitants of UK soils but are transitory visitors in greenhouses. Their status in soils is currently unknown. A new system of recording earthworm species in the British Isles is proposed and consists of two parts. Part 1 lists those species found living freely in soils, part 2 lists those species whose status is unknown, many of which are likely to be imported visitors found in greenhouses. The need for systematic sampling of earthworms throughout the UK is highlighted and the possible effects of climatic change on earthworm populations are commented on.