THE CARNIVOROUS SLUGS OF SOUTH AFRFCA. 221 



duct, its comparatively great lengtli, and its lateral junction 

 with the receptaculum seminis ; (7) the convolution of that 

 part of the vas deferens which lies next to the free oviduct ; 

 (8) the length of the narrow anterior part of the penis, and 

 its broader posterior end, without any flagellum. 



It will be seen from PI. XXIV that the specimens of 

 Test ace 11a from Cape Town which I have examined 

 possess all these characters, and I have, therefore, no 

 hesitation in assigning them to T. maugei. Nevertheless 

 the South African examples of this genus have usually been 

 named "T. aurigaster Lai/ard."^ Now, although Major 

 Connolly- believes that Layard published a description of 

 this supposed species, I have not been able to find any such 

 description, nor any type-specimens, and I cannot therefore 

 state definitely that T. aurigaster is a synonym of T. 

 maugei, as it is conceivable that more than one species of 

 Testacella may have found its way to Cape Town durino- 

 the last sixty years. At the same time, all the specimens 

 that I have seen labelled " T. aurigaster " have proved to 

 belong to T. maugei, and I think that T. aurigaster may 

 be safely expunged from the list of South African Mollusca. 



The slug- occurs in gardens at Cape Town, and I have little 

 doubt that it has been introduced into South Africa by man 

 notwithstanding- Dr. Simroth's arguments in favour of the 

 possibility of Testae el la being a native of that country.-^ I 

 believe that the natui-al distribution of the genus Testacella 

 is limited to the western part of the Paltearctic i*egion, from 

 Great Britain and Hungary to the Canary Islands, and that 



' The following is a copy of a manuscript note written by Layard 

 liimself, for which I am indebted to Major Connolly : " Testacella 

 aurigaster Layard. I only found this shelled slug in the Gardens round 

 Cape Town. It was common in the grounds of the Sotith African Museum, 

 which ivas btiilt at the lower end of the Botanical Garden in Cape Town. 

 The belly of the animal was a rich golden yellow, hence the name selected. 

 It devours large loorms, & will afsimilate individuals far larger than 

 itself r' 



■ -Ann. S. Afr. Mus.,' 1912, vol. xi, p. 64. 



^ ' Zool. Anz. Leipzig,' 1907, vol. xxxi, p. 796. 



