Leeches: Representatives of the Forest’s Abundance. The more leeches there are, the more large animals will follow.

When the rainy season arrives, the forest becomes lush and moist again. Naturally, on the ground and leaves, we can feel the presence of certain creatures crawling all over — leeches!!!

When prey comes close, they can sense vibrations and changes in light from the shadow of the passing prey. The head of the leech will sway back and forth to determine the direction of its prey before using its sucker to crawl eagerly towards it.

Once it reaches the prey, the leech carefully selects a suitable spot on thin skin with many blood vessels. It uses its sharp, scalpel-like jaws to delicately slice the skin, releasing chemicals and sucking blood from the prey voraciously until it’s full.

Their distinctive feature is two suckers at the head and tail, and a two or three-pronged mouth that creates different wounds. A two-pronged mouth forms a V-shaped wound, while the leeches found in our forests create a Y-shaped wound. They all have the same number of body segments—34 segments. They breathe through their skin, and their bodies have small grooves to help retain moisture from the fluids they excrete.