92 The Irish Naturalist. April, 



have not yet been accepted hy the majority of I^nglish 

 authorities, and also because it has yet to be definitely proved 

 that the radula and genitalia are more unvarying guides than 

 the shell itself. It seems to me that the whole controversy 

 turns on the old old query "what is a species?" In the 

 collecting of the above notes my best thanks are due to the 

 other members of the party. 



Belfast. 



ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF WOODLICR IN IRELAND 

 AS KNOWN AT THE END OF 1908. 



BY D. R. PACKBERESFORD, B.A., M.R.I.A,, AND NEVIN H. 



FOSTER, M.B.O.U. 



During the past j^ear 1908 we devoted some attention to 

 the detailed distribution of Woodlice in Ireland, and in tabu- 

 lating the results of our investigations according to the 40 

 County Divisions as scheduled by R. LI. Praeger.^ Through 

 the kindness of Dr. Scharffwe were enabled to examine the 

 stock of specimens of this group in the Museum in Dublin, 

 and to register the localities in which they had been obtained. 

 Since the publication of Dr. Scharff's " The Irish Woodlice,"- 

 onl)' occasional notes, mainly relating to some of the rarer 

 species, have been published ; and after collecting all the 

 available data, we found that at the beginning of 1908 no fewer 

 than seven of the County Divisions were barren of a single 

 record, whilst in only fourteen counties were more than four 

 species recorded ; although it is probably correct to state 

 that Trichoniscus pusillus, Oniscits asellus, Philoscia muscorum, 

 and Porcellio scaher are common all over Ireland. In the 

 past twelve months we have been indebted to many kind 

 friends who, from time to time, sent us specimens from 

 different localities, and these, with the specimens collected by 

 ourselves in various districts, and Mr. Bagnall's collection in 

 September, conscitute the material on which our present 

 knowledge of the group's Irish distribution is founded ;and it 

 may be observed that only one county, Longford, is now de- 

 void of a record. 



^ Irish Topographical Botany, 1901. ^ Irish Naturalist, vol. iii. 



