8G EAMBLES IN SEARCH OF SHELLS. 



it often falls a prey to carnivorous beetles, notwith- 

 standing its closely-fitting operculum. This is not 

 the only mollusk which furnishes food to beetles. 

 We have frequently found these insects upon 

 partially devoured remains of different species of 

 Helix; and entomologists are aware that the larvae 

 of some beetles are constantly found in empty snail- 

 shells (c/. "Proc. Ent. Soc." 1858, p. 9). Some years 

 since, when rambling over the Sussex Downs in the 

 spring of the year, we discovered the larva of Drilus 

 flavcscens in an old shell of Helix ericetonmi. 

 When exhibited some time afterwards at a meeting 

 of the Entomological Society, it was considered to 

 be but the second female example which had been 

 obtained in this country (c/. "Zoologist," 1868, 

 p. 1137). Coleopterists from this may take a hint. 

 The epiphragm, where it is found in the Helicida, 

 is a thin plate accurately fitting the mouth of the 

 shell, and secreted by the animal for its protection 

 during periods of inactivity, but cast off at will when 

 no longer required. The operculum, as in the last- 

 named species, is a plate of a horny character per- 

 manently attached to the back of the animal's foot, 

 and naturally closes the aperture of the shell when 



