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The Metaphire formosae species group is a member of the Pheretima complex of the family Megascolecidae. It is composed of 12 nominal taxa, Metaphire bununa Tsai et al., 2000, Metaphire feijani Chang & Chen, 2004, Metaphire formosae (Michaelsen, 1922), Metaphire glareosa Tsai et al., 2000, Metaphire nanaoensis Chang & Chen, 2005, Metaphire paiwanna paiwanna Tsai et al., 2000, Metaphire paiwanna hengchunensis (James et al., 2005), Metaphire paiwanna liliumfordi Tsai et al., 2000, Metaphire tahanmonta Chang & Chen, 2005, Metaphire taiwanensis Tsai et al., 2004, Metaphire trutina Tsai et al., 2003, and Metaphire yuhsi (Tsai, 1964). In this study, we describe a new species, Metaphire tengjhihensis sp. nov., and two new subspecies, Metaphire nanaoensis truku ssp. nov. and Metaphire taiwanensis tsaii ssp. nov., belonging to this species group. DNA barcodes (partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1, COI) from type specimens of M. feijani, M. tengjhihensis sp. nov., M. nanaoensis truku ssp. nov., M. tahanmonta and M. taiwanensis tsaii ssp. nov. have been deposited in GenBank in previous studies and are explicitly linked to the type specimens for the first time, enabling unambiguous identification using both morphology and DNA barcodes. Finally, we comment on the systematics of the M. formosae species group and suggest an integrative taxonomic approach that combines morphology and DNA barcodes for future descriptions of new species of Amynthas and Metaphire.

Four new species of terrestrial earthworms belonging to the genus Amynthas were collected on the islands of Kinmen and Lieyu, Taiwan from March to November, 2008. They are Amynthas kinmenensis sp. nov., Amynthas wuhumontis sp. nov., Amynthas wujhouensis sp. nov., and Amynthas taiwumontis sp. nov. Amynthas kinmenensis sp. nov. is quadrithecal and is the most abundant earthworm widely distributed on the main island of Kinmen. It has numerous small genital papillae and is closely related to Amynthas polyglandularis (Tsai, 1964) from northern Taiwan. Amynthas wuhumontis sp. nov. is sexthecal and is distributed only in areas around Mt. Wuhu and Mt. Taiwu in east Kinmen. It has male pores each surrounded by three genital papillae: one anterior, one posterior and one medial. Amynthas wujhouensis sp. nov. and Amynthas taiwumontis sp. nov. are octothecal. The former has a sporadic distribution in Kinmen while the latter was only found in areas around Mt. Taiwu. Amynthas wujhouensis sp. nov. has a pair of large genital papillae closely adjacent to the crescent or semicircular shaped male porophores in XVIII. Amynthas taiwumontis sp. nov. has simple male pore structure and no genital papillae or genital markings. DNA barcodes (the 5' end sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene) from type specimens and other materials of the first three species are also reported.