Caenoplana variegata, Fletcher & Hamilton, 1888

Justine, Jean-Lou, Gastineau, Romain & Winsor, Leigh, 2024, Land flatworms (Tricladida: Geoplanidae) in France and French overseas territories: ten years of research, Zoologia (e 24004) 41, pp. 1-25 : 10

Caenoplana variegata

Caenoplana variegata ( Figs 18, 19 ) is the first species spotted by Pierre Gros in his garden in 2013.While we treated the first specimen as a unique treasure, citizen science studies have later shown, ironically, that this species is present in around 40 of the 96 departments of mainland France. It has also been reported in other European countries ( Dorigo et al. 2020, Jones et al. 2020, Mori et al. 2023, Thunnissen et al. 2022, Vardinoyannis and Alexandrakis 2019). We briefly mentioned the species in an article ( Justine et al. 2014a), but have not yet published detailed results. The species has often been referred to in the literature as Caenoplana bicolor , but a 2020 article considers this to be a junior synonym of Caenoplana variegata ( Jones et al. 2020) . Interestingly, in 2023 there were many more reports of this species in mainland France than in previous years, which could suggest that the species is expanding (unpublished observations). The species consumes woodlice and other terrestrial arthropods. We have received photographs showing predation by this species of large arthropod species, including large spiders.

Figures

Figures 18–19. Caenoplana variegata: (18) Alive, specimen from mainland France. Specimen MNHN JL144 from La Plaine- Saint-Denis. The head is on the left size. Photo by Jean-Lou Justine, original. (19) Map of occurrence in mainland France including Corsica. Based on 404 observations in the Openobs database.