534 ScHARFF — On the Slugs of Ireland. 



entirely disappear. This would be commonly attributed to the nature of tlie soil, 

 but it is really due to the depredations of A. carinata. I find that in sandy soil 

 bulbs are less liable to be attacked by this species. Gain (10) states that A. 

 marginata [= carinata) took most of the different kinds of foods offered. I hope 

 this writer will publish a more detailed account of the nature of the food offered 

 than what has hitherto appeared. 



General Distribution. — Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, France, Austro- 

 Hungary, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. 



Amalia gagates, Drap. 



Limax gagates, Draparnaud, Table Moll, 1801. Amalia gagates, Heynemann, 

 3Ial. Blatter, 1861. Limax gagates, Jeffreys' Brit. Conch., 1862. 



(Plate LVL, fig. 9.) 



Colour generally dark lead or light drab brown. Keel of nearly the same 

 colour- as the rest of body. Interspaces between wrinkles and groove on mantle 

 without black pigment ; foot white, and slime watery. Receptaculum short and 

 round. 



External Characters. — As I have stated in the synopsis, this slug is distinguished 

 from A. carinata by its colour, which is black, or, more correctly, dark lead. 

 There is also a brown variety, but even then the two species are readily distin- 

 guishable. In A. carinata the brown is always richer, being either a deep rich 

 brown or a bright yellow-brown, while in the variety of A. gagates it is always a 

 light drab-brown. Besides, the foot is always pure white, the skin delicate, and the 

 mucus watery. In A. carinata the foot is yellowish, the skin is thick, and the mucus 

 tougli and sticky. Both species maybe distinguished merely by the touch. Whilst 

 A. carinata feels like a sticky lump of fat, A. gagates, owing to its more watery 

 mucus, glides readily through the fingers. 



In this species the horse-shoe shaped groove on the mantle is well marked, but 

 there being no black pigment, it is not so apparent as in the preceding one. 



The mantle in A. gagates is almost of the same size as the body, whilst in 

 A. carinata it is only about three-fourths of the length. The keel in A. gagates is 

 much sharper than in A. carinata, and the interspaces between the body-wrinkles 

 have no black pigment, which in A. carinata gives it the speckled appearance. 



The largest specimen I have seen measured 50 mm. by 6 mm., showing that 

 it is altogether smaller and more slender than the other Amalia. 



Anatomy (Plate LVII., fig. 31). — Full-grown specimens measure about 130 mm. in 



