EUROPEAN SPECIES OP VERTIGO. 177 



{Hesse). Neighborhood of Piazza, in the Val Brembana, Italy 

 (Andreae). 



Pupa pygmaea, var. callicarens Bttg., HESSE, Nachrbl. d M. 

 Ges. 1881, p. 7. P. p. var. callocarens ANDREAE, Nachrbl. 

 1883, p. 135. 



Var. athesina Gredler. The impression behind the cervical 

 callus [crest] inconspicuous; in the palate a small third 

 tooth near the insertion of the outer lip, which is often more 

 elevated than the lower one of the columella, and relative 

 to size appearing to stand in an inverse proportion to the 

 latter. I first found [this variety] in several examples at 

 Bad Bergfall, near Olang in the Pusterthal, under stones. 

 Further I have noticed it, more or less characteristically de- 

 veloped, in the whole Etsch river region, especially at Klausen, 

 Botzen, Salurna, Naturna, etc. [Tyrol] (Gredler). 



Var. sarena Gredler. Shell larger ; aperture 8-toothed : the 

 lower tooth on the columella split into two smaller ones; in 

 the palate 4 instead of 2 teeth, of which the 1st and 3d are 

 noticeably larger, the 2d and 4th bluntly conic. [Tyrol] In 

 the Sarnthal, in the village of the same name, under stones 

 associated with var. athesina (Gredler). 



Dr. D. Geyer (Nachrichtsblatt d. deutschen Malak. Ges., 

 44, 1912, p. 117-124), in an article on what might be called 

 over-grown snails, discusses the individuals sometimes met 

 with (a) having the last whorl abnormally inflated, (&) the 

 shell relatively elongated by a whorl or two, with weakening 

 of apertural structures, or (c) with these peculiarities com- 

 bined ; noting various instances. Elongation of the shell is 

 said to be commonest in V. pygmaea ; frequently a sixth whorl 

 is added, the peristome being left sharp, without the char- 

 acteristic armature. Others have the aperture finished, but 

 without teeth or folds. He believes that Pupa haeiisleri and 

 Vertigo heldi are such forms of Vertigo pygmaea. In the 

 river valleys of the south German Jura, where these rare 

 snails appear to be restricted, they always occur associated 

 in the river debris with V. pygmaea, never without it, though 

 pygmaea occurs also without either haeusleri or heldi. 



Similar cases of gigantism are known in Cochlicopa (Proc. 

 Malac. Soc. Lond., xii, p. 312), Azeca and other genera. 



