452 A MANUAL OF AMERICAN LAND SHELLS. 



lAmax flavus, Linn^us, Syst. Nat [x], 1758, i, 652 (not Muller, 1774).— Bixn'i.y, Bo&t. 

 Jouru. Nat. Hist., iv, 164 (1842).— De Kay, N. Y. Moll , 21, pi. i, fig. 5 

 (1843). — Gkay and Pfeiffer, Reeve, »fec,— Tryon, Am. Journ. Conch., iii, 

 314 (1868).— W. G. BiNNEY, L. & Fr.-W. Sh., i, 61 (1869); Terr. Moll., v, 

 143.— Gould and Binney, Invert, of Mass., ed. 2, 410 (1870). 



Limax -variegatus, Draparnaud, Tabl. Moll., 103 (1801). — Ferussac, Moquin-Tan- 

 DON.— Binney, Terr. Moll., ii, 34, pi. Ixv, fig. 1 (1851). — Leidy, anat., T M.,i, 

 248, pl.i (1851). 



An introduced species, noticed hitherto in Massachusetts, at Boston 

 and Cambridge ; in the cities of New York, Philadelphia, and Balti- 

 more; in Virginia, at Eichmond and at the University of Virginia; in 

 Athens and Savannah, Ga. ; Graniteville and Charleston, S. C. ; and at 

 other cities. It is also found in Europe, Syria, and Madeira. 



The contrast of colors and the elegant arrangement of the spots and 

 lines render this a beautiful species. The tubercles of the surface are 

 very fine, and so much compressed as to appear in some lights to be 

 carinated. There is often a well-defined row of spots down the back. 

 The eye-peduncles are long and delicate, the mantle sometimes termi- 

 nates posteriorly in an obtuse point, and the locomotive band of the 

 foot is narrow and well defined. There is a prominent ridge on the 

 head and neck between the eye i)eduncles, and a furrow marks the 

 edge of the foot. It is active in its motions, turns rapidly, and often 

 bends the body so as to form two parallel lines. It does not secrete 

 mucus so freely as Limax agrestis. The carina is often yellowish. The 

 testaceous rudiment (Terr. Moll., I, Plate I, Fig. V) is oblong-oval, 

 convex above and concave below, thin and membranaceous in young 

 individuals, with the superior surface smooth and covered with a deli- 

 cate periostracum, and with the lower surface uneven. No spiral 

 arrangement is visible to the eye, and it appears to be only a thin, 

 testaceous i)late, imbedded in the mantle. In old individuals it attains 

 a greater thickness. 



It inhabits cellars and gardens in moist situations in the cities. It 

 is considered noxious to vegetation. It feeds upon the leaves of plants 

 in kitchen gardens, and upon the remains of the cooked vegetables and 

 bread thrown out from houses. Its most common habitat is in cellars, 

 where it makes its presence most disagreeable by attacking articles of 

 food, and especially by insinuating itself into vessels containing meal 

 and flour. It is common, but not so numerous as Limax agrestis. The 

 young suspend themselves hy a thread of mucus. 



This species is of foreign origin, bat the jieriod of its introduction is 

 not known. It was noticed by Mr. Say more than fifty years since. It 



