Earthworms are an important ecological group, especially in agricultural regions in Northeast China. However, fewer studies focus on this group of organisms compared with other faunal groups. Here, we sequenced 15 new mitogenomes of Aporrectodea tuberculata Eisen, 1874, A. trapezoides Duges, 1828, Eisenia nordenskioldi Eisen, 1878 and Drawida ghilarovi Gates, 1969 in Northeast China using a high-throughput sequencing platform. These incomplete linear and double-stranded mitogenomes vary from 14,998 bp to 16,123 bp in size and include 37 genes and a putative control region. Intraspecific genetic divergence was quantified in the lumbricid species, and a control region in D. ghilarovi was reported for the first time by comparison to the mitogenomes of the congeners. Phylogenetic analysis based on coding genes and ribosomal DNA datasets using BI and ML inferences showed the non-monophyly of Aporrectodea and polyphyly of E. nordenskioldi. Future works should examine the taxonomy, phylogeny and population genetics not only of Lumbricidae but also the other earthworm families on the global scale using mitogenomic and nuclear data.

We provide descriptions, with illustrations of internal structures, for 18 new species of Pheretima from Mt. Malindang, Misamis Occidental Province, Mindanao Island, Philippines. Among the 18 species, 11 belong to the P. sangirensis species group, characterized by having a pair of spermathecal pores in the intersegmental furrow of 7/8 and lacking penial sheaths in the copulatory bursae: P. maculodorsalis n. sp., P. tigris n. sp., P. immanis n. sp., P. lago n. sp., P. nunezae n. sp., P. boniaoi n. sp., P. malindangensis n. sp., P. misamisensis n. sp., P. wati n. sp., P. longiprostata n. sp., and P. nolani n. sp. One species, P. longigula n. sp., belongs to the P. montana species group, characterized by having a pair of spermathecal pores in the intersegmental furrow of 7/8 and penial sheaths in the copulatory bursae. Two species, P. vergrandis n. sp. and P. concepcionensis n. sp., are monothecal. Three species, P. adevai n. sp., P. lluchi n. sp., and P. potonganensis n. sp., belong to the P. darnleiensis species group, characterized by having either four or five pairs of spermathecae from vi to ix, with a fifth pair variably present in segment v. One species, P. subanensis n. sp., is athecate. All species described here from the Mt. Malindang Range are probably native rather than introduced, and probably do not represent range extensions of species known from neighboring islands in Southeast Asia. We provide an identification key to the Pheretima species from Mt. Malindang.

We described 19 new species of pheretimoid earthworms in Palawan, Philippines. Of these, eight are Pheretima belonging to the Ph. darnleiensis group, characterised by having either four or five pairs of spermathecal pores located in 5/6–8/9. These were Pheretima ingentis sp. nov., Ph. palawanensis sp. nov., Ph. atongensis sp. nov., Ph. ascensa sp. nov., Ph. marinanaensis sp. nov., Ph. brookespointensis sp. nov., Ph. multicamera sp. nov., and Ph. hamadryades sp. nov. Seven are Polypheretima, of which Polypheretima victoriaensis sp. nov., Po. irawanensis sp. nov., Po. jenniferae sp. nov., Po. puertoprincesaensis sp. nov., Po. fleischmani sp. nov., and Po. mantalingahanensis sp. nov. belong to the Po. elongata group, characterised by having a pair of genital markings in xix, successive segments in line with the male pores, paired batteries of up to 28 spermathecae in vi and/or vii, and shallow copulatory bursae, while Po. zonadimidia sp. nov. is unique among all Polypheretima species in having a saddle-shaped clitellum and in having a pair of genital markings on xiv, xv, xvii and xix in line with the male pores. Two species are Amynthas, namely Am. magnaprostata sp. nov. of the Am. sieboldi group, characterised by having three pairs of spermathecal pores in 6/7–8/9 and a holandric male system, and Am. elnidoensis sp. nov. of the Am. minimus group, characterised by having a pair of spermathecal pores in 5/6. Also, two are Metaphire, namely Me. santalourdesensis sp. nov. of the Me. merabahensis group, characterised by having three pairs of spermathecal pores at 5/6–7/8, and Me. narraensis sp. nov. of the Me. peguana group, characterised by having three pairs of spermathecal pores in 6/7–8/9 and post-clitellar genital markings at 17/18 and 18/19. With thorough biological surveys in Palawan, we expect that more species will be discovered in this biogeographic faunal region. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:04B185DB-7D43-42B1-9497-C28B3228BDF0 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:23954AD0-3C7A-46D3-AD5A-BF8F50681338 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:A1B3ED85-A649-4692-A2E4-5A53D76236E1 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1EFB06B6-3D92-40E8-B337-C09DAA342B57 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:CE333FA2-B3D8-4B65-B915-5328AF53D715 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:31851231-C527-4E50-AFD4-BF9AA22EAD12 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:105E5C1D-8BF6-444E-B4B0-EC511A155A49 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3CA8628E-0458-49EE-8BE2-49A6143D39DC urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:75AB66AC-7B43-4A7C-B0CE-089CEE28A8C3 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:26B59F17-9318-4853-958D-B758E699830F urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1E205842-3930-42A0-BB81-223358E21206 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:49EFE723-2123-4D7D-8430-6A4A61CFE13D urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:29EB0027-BEDA-48CA-B7B8-AAFE19C0FD84 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:0DB1D5C3-C1D4-4581-8713-0C5E0C4346B2 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:CC6BC860-9CDA-46C7-9001-D5DC92E008E4 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:0F85D176-0F8B-4605-B08C-0371743D486C urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:0B376B0E-7CA5-4BC2-BD3B-062BA8F2AAF4 urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5FBA6522-DA25-4606-99C9-315555E55BCF urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:68FAA1DF-10AF-4BEA-8653-F2E88F2A026A

Phillips et al . (Reports, 25 October 2019, p. 480) incorrectly conclude that tropical earthworm communities are less diverse and abundant than temperate communities. This result is an artifact generated by some low-quality datasets, lower sampling intensity in the tropics, different patterns in richness-area relationships, the occurrence of invasive species in managed soils, and a focus on local rather than regional richness.