Driloleirus americanus Smith, 1897:203
Giant Palouse earthworm, Washington giant earthworm
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Last record: 1897 (Blakemore, 2014)
Rediscovered in: 1988 (Blakemore, 2014)
IUCN RedList status: Vulnerable
Distribution
Idaho & Washington, USA
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original description:
Smith, Frank. (1897). Upon an Undescribed Species of Megascolides from the United States. The American Naturalist 31: 202-204.
Other references:
Baille, J., and B. Groombridge. (1996). 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN Species Survival Commission, Gland, Switzerland. 368 pp.
Blakemore, Robert J. (2014). Driloleirus americanus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014: e.T6828A21416080. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T6828A21416080.en. Accessed on 13 May 2025.
Fauci, M. (2002, April). Palouse Giant Earthworm. Presented at the 2002 Palouse Prairie Symposium, Palouse Prairie Foundation, Moscow, ID.
Groombridge, B. (ed.). (1994). 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
IUCN. (1990). 1990 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
NatureServe. (2025). Driloleirus americanus: Giant Palouse Earthworm. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer [web application]. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available at: https://explorer.natureserve.org/ [Accessed 13 April 2025]
Reynolds, John Warren. (2016). Earthworms (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae and Megascolecidae) of the Columbia Plateau ecoregion (10), USA. Megadrilogica 20(10): 179-185.
Reynolds, John Warren. (2020). Rare earthworms (Annelida: Oligochaeta) in the continental United States. Megadrilogica 25(5): 61-88.
Sánchez-de León, Y. and Johnson-Maynard, J. (2009). Dominance of an invasive earthworm in native and non-native grassland ecosystems. Biological Invasions 11(6): 1393-1401.
Suckling, Kieran, Slack, Rhiwena and Nowicki, Brian. (2004). Extinct and the Endangered Species Act. Centre For Biological Diversity. 63 pp.
University Of Idaho (2006, February 2). Idaho Researcher Finds Rare Giant Palouse Earthworm. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 18, 2012, from: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/02/060202081127.htm
University of Idaho (2008, May 5). Two Discoveries Add To Giant Earthworm Science In Northwest. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 18, 2012, from: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080504195011.htm
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). (2011). Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants; 12-month finding on a petition to list the Giant Palouse Earthworm (Drilolerius americanus) as Threatened or Endangered. Federal Register 76(143): 44547-44564.
Wells, S. M., Pyle, R. M. and Collins, N. M. (compilers). (1983). The IUCN Invertebrate Red Data Book. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
World Conservation Monitoring Centre. (1996). Driloleirus americanus. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 17 November 2012.
Xu, Shan (2011). Driloleirus americanus spatial distribution in relation to soil properties, exotic earthworms and plant communities. Thesis, University of Idaho.
https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/6881/palouse-earthworm-discovered-idaho