ScHARFF — On the Slugs of Ireland. 521 



Asia Minor ; also the islands of Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Azores, Madeira, and 

 New Zealand (introduced), and East Coast of North America (introduced). 



Limax flavus, L. 



Limax flavus. Linn^, Syst. Nat., 1758. Limax variegatus — Draparnaud, Tahle 

 Moll., 1801. Limax flavus— Jeffreys' Brit. Conch., 1862. 



(Plate LVL, fig. 3.) 



Colour of body, lemon or orange-yellow spotted with gray, the spots being 

 arranged in bands. Tentacles bluish. The intestine has a coecum, but there is 

 no flagellum. 



Synonymy. — The name " variegatus'''' of Draparnaud (5), adopted by Moquin- 

 Tandon (26), Simroth (32), and others, is not correct by the law of priority. 

 Lessona and Pollonera (21) have pointed out that we cannot remain in doubt about 

 the identity of Linn^'s species with that of Draparnaud, as the former refers to 

 Lister's (22) figure, which is unmistakable. 



External Characters. — The species is very constant in its external characters. 

 This slug appears to be of a uniformly lemon-yellow colour; on closer inspection, 

 however, we find that the yellow is obscured to such an extent by a delicate gray, 

 especially on the mantle, that it seems as if there were yellow spots on a gray 

 ground. Towards the sides of the body and mantle the colour becomes more of 

 an orange. Specimens taken in my own cellar were more vividly coloured ; they 

 were always of a deep orange-yellow. But the yellow colour in this slug is 

 entirely due to an abundant mucus, covering the body at all times. When it is 

 wiped off, the true body-colour is revealed, which is a dull flesh tint. Although 

 the secretion from the dermal glands of the back is so intensely yellow, the 

 ordinary mucus of the foot is colourless and very abundant. 



The tentacles present a very striking character, being of a delicate blue 

 colour. They are shorter and thicker than in either of the two other species of 

 Limax. But the wrinkles are, perhaps, the most characteristic feature in this slug. 

 They are closely set, and have been likened by Simroth (38) to strings of pearls 

 (perlschnurartig). 



The largest specimen I have seen was 80 mm. long, by 10 mm. broad ; so that 

 it is considerably smaller than the preceding species, but rather broader for its 

 size. Altogether, it is more rounded than L. maximus, and there is only a faint 

 indication of a keel at the tail end of the body. 



Only once have I seen a specimen which exhibited a trace of a band on one 

 side of the mantle, but never on the body. 



TRANS. EOT. DUB. .SOC, N..S. VOL. IV., PART X. 4 D 



