THE VELVET WORM

One of the rare creatures found on the Stubbs’ farm is the velvet worm or peripatus. Inching around the floor of the bush, they are little changed in 500 million years. They look a bit like caterpillars and have short legs in pairs down their length. They are reportedly not well understood by scientists, but one of their attractions is that they are like worms and insects and are regarded as a kind of missing link in the study of these species.