ScHARFF — On the Slugs of Ireland. 533 



of March, and that they measure 6 mm. by 5 mm. They are, therefore, about the 

 size of those of L. maximus, and very much larger than one would expect. I have 

 met with a good many specimens of the slug, about 15—20 mm. long in July, so 

 that the deposition of eggs in Ireland probably takes jjlace in April or May. The 

 young ones do not differ to any appreciable degree from the adults. I saw no 

 half-grown or young specimens during winter, so that at any rate the reproduction 

 of this form seems to differ from that of most other slugs, and in all pi'obability 

 it lives for more than one year. 



Habitat. — Simroth gives limestone rubble (kalkgeroll) in mountainous districts 

 as the abode of the A. marginata. The habitat of our A. carinata is totally different. 

 It is one of the commonest garden slugs in Dublin. It is very gregarious, and 

 one often finds a number of them close together in worm-burrows, or at the root 

 of delicate plants. They are, like all slugs, fond of stiff clay soil, which keeps 

 the moisture so much longer than sandy soil, and which, owing to the numerous 

 worm-burrows, gives them better shelter. They spend the day underground, 

 and come out at night in damp weather, but they often drag bits of stalks 

 underground to feed on at their leisure. In the open country I have met with 

 them everywhere, but only locally. They are widely distributed. Miss Warren 

 tells me that this species is rare in Sligo, whilst A. gagates is common, but I have 

 received a large number of A. carinata (rather dark ones) from the Aran Islands, 

 county Galway, and it probably occurs everywhere in the West. These did not 

 dift'er anatomically from our Eastern forms. It seems surprising that Clarke (3), 

 who was such an authority on slugs, did not meet with this species in the North 

 of Ireland, and only records it from Dublin, whilst Thompson (43) gives Monivea 

 and Clifden in county Galway, and Cork, as the localities where it occurred to him. 



Food. — Simroth (38) believes that the German species of Amalia are carni- 

 vorous. Although the Irish A. carinata is carnivorous at certain times, it is 

 generally a most determined vegetable feeder, and, I believe, runs Agriolimax 

 agrestis very close in being the most voracious and destructive of slugs. 



As I mentioned before, I have had specimens in captivity for several months, 

 and I have had good opportunities for observing its habits in the garden. I find 

 that it is especially fond of leaf stalks and bulbs, but it greedily devours green 

 leaves. The bulbs and stalks seem to suit them better when they are stale and 

 beginning to decay. Of the thirty or forty which I kept in a large tin box filled 

 with earth, and always supplied with leaves, bulbs, &c., about a dozen were eaten 

 by their companions, only the shells being left. Observing them very closely, I 

 noticed that only weak specimens, which seemed either old or seized by illness, 

 were devoured. 



The more vigorous ones always spent the day underground, burying themselves 

 several inches deep. In the garden I noticed that many bulbs in heavy soil 



