Neil Phillips The sighting came from local naturalist, Bob Merritt, and follows unverified records from 2005 and 2008.
Buglife confirmed the Medicinal Leech in three ponds near Carrick Shore on the Solway coast, as part of the Scotland-wide conservation program, Species on the Edge.
Medicinal Leeches can grow up to 20cm long making them one of the UK’s largest native leeches.
They can be found in a variety of freshwater habitats, including ponds, lochs, ditches, wetlands, and streams.
In Scotland, Medicinal Leeches have a dark brown or black upper side with yellow-grey stripes and a speckled underside.
They feed on blood from cattle, deer, amphibians, fish, and birds, and only feed every 3 to 12 months and can live up to 20 years.
Once widespread, the Medicinal Leech is now known in only three areas in Scotland – mainland Argyll, Islay, and now Dumfries and Galloway.
Those spotting a large leech in Scotland are being asked to send an image of it to Buglife at scotland@buglife.org.uk.
Buglife is the only organisation in Europe devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates, and works to halt the extinction of invertebrate species and to achieve sustainable populations of invertebrates.
The food we eat, the fish we catch, the birds we see, the flowers we smell and the hum of life we hear, simply would not exist without bugs.
Species on the Edge is a multipartner species conservation program dedicated to supporting vulnerable and threatened species found along Scotland’s coast and islands.
Dumfries & Galloway offers visitors an undulating coastline of rocky shoreline and sandy beaches along with acres of forest and green spaces
* www.buglife.org.uk, www.speciesontheedge.co.uk and www.visitscotland.com/places-to-go/dumfries-galloway
* Nikki Banfield at Nikki.Banfield@buglife.org.uk
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