HYGROMIA STRIOLATA. 7 
signalizes the commencement of the marginal series, the teeth diminishing rapidly 
in size and more or less generally becoming tricuspidate or even occasionally show 
four cutting points. 
The formula of a specimen from Wexford, prepared by Mr. J. W. Neville, is 
a2 4p 20 4 20 te x 104 — 6,968 teeth. 
Reproduction and Development.—No observations have been 
made of the amatory preludes or the conjugation of this species, but the 
season probably begins in the early spring, and is continued throughout 
the summer months, while egg deposition has been actually noted to 
take place from July to October. The eggs have been described as opal- 
escent-white, and globular in form, about 14 mill. in diameter, and 40 to 
50 in number; they usually hatch in from 20 to 25 days, and attain full 
erowth during the following season. 
In July, 1883, the late Mr. Chas. Bg ie 
Ashford dissected a specimen in a 7dr ps S TO Ze ; 
which the oviduct was crowded with a id —)y— 
eggs, seventeen being counted, occu- wd A a ? 
pying the ducts from the albumen Vie 
gland downwards. ‘I'he eggs travers- 
ing the oviduct were all transparent 
and colourless, but after passing 
Vet 
Fic. 19. Fic. 20. 
between the openings of the mucus 
glands and dart sacs, each egg be- 
came enclosed in a white calcareous 
Fic. 19.—Section through oviduct showing the 
descent of the eggs after passing the albumen gland 
(enlarged). 
Fic. 20.—Section through the free oviduct show- 
ing the passage of the eggs between the dart sacs 
and digitate glands, the place of acquirement of the 
calcareous investment of the ova (enlarged). 
shell, demonstrating that these or- 
gans, so rich in calcic substances, 
function in forming the hard enveloping shell. 
The young of this species, as stated by Montagu, is frequently covered 
with short hairs, which are seldom spread over the whole shell. In this 
hispid immature state it is, according to L. Pfeiffer, the Helia tomentosa 
of Adams. his hispid character, however, becomes lost before the shells 
are half grown, but their sockets are often perceptible with a good lens, 
while the nucleus is said to show delicate spiral striation, and Dr. Jeffreys 
has noted that at Clifden, Galway, shells have been found in which this 
spiral sculpture is continued on the shells to maturity. 
In the autumn months the young shells are more scansorial than in later 
life, and may often be brought down in showers by beating ivy, etc., grow- 
ing on old walls and other places. 
Before maturity, the animal may construct, from time to time, one or 
more calcareous submarginal ribs to the aperture, and these premature 
ribs or thickenings, due to interruptions of growth, frequently persist and 
are visible through the substance of the shell as broad transverse whitish 
streaks. 
Food and Habits. — The food of this species has not yet been 
thoroughly and systematically noted, but it is well known as one of the 
pests of a garden, and its fondness for Arabis albida, violet leaves, prim- 
roses, and the petals of the cultivated poppies has been recorded, while its 
predilection for strawberry beds has led to its being called the ‘strawberry 
snail”; the underside of the leaves of buttercups (tanwnculus) is also a 
favourite resort and probably of food in certain districts. 
Though stated to be especially characteristic of the nettles and brambles 
on the outskirts of somewhat damp oak-birch woods, it displays by its 
