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Project Noah Nature School
Leeches are segmented worms (phylum Annelida subclass Hirudinea). The majority of leeches live in freshwater environments, while some species can be found in terrestrial --like this one-- and marine environments as well. Most leeches are "hematophagous" (blood suckers) feeding on blood from vertebrate and invertebrate animals. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leech)
Mixed coastal freshwater swamp forest and sago swamp.
An engorged leech, full from a blood meal. Returning from the forest, I looked down at the vehicle mat and saw this "lintah". I was surprised because I had been properly dressed to avoid this. It turns out that a colleague in the backseat had been the donor and the leech, satiated, had dropped down and navigated under my driver's seat to arrive on the front mat. These leeches crawl inch-worm fashion but flail around before they commit to take the next step. This explains the out of focus photos 2 & 3.
Spotted on Oct 25, 2011
Submitted on Oct 27, 2011
3 Comments
I admit to a childish "eewww" when I saw this. They're just not particularly endearing, and the thought that they would crawl around on dry ground looking for a likely "sucker"...eww
Well yes, Papua is the easternmost province of Indonesia :-)
"Lintah", so it seems like the locals speak Indonesian there.