548 ScHARFF — On the Slugs of Ireland. 



As in the other, there are two varieties in colour, but in the garden I have never 

 met vi^ith the dark form. The young, both in the open country and garden, are 

 delicately gray, with a well-defined lateral band on each side of the body and 

 mantle. The colour remains the same in the garden forms as they grow up, but a 

 number of reddish pigment spots appear, which produce a general effect of tan- 

 colour. In the country specimens I have never observed this development of red 

 pigment, and the original gray colour merely darkens, so as to produce a dark- 

 gray slug. 



Anatomy (Plate LVII., fig. 35). — Although this and the preceding species are 

 difficult to distinguish externally, anatomically A. bourguignati presents unmis- 

 takable characteristics. 



The hermaphrodite gland [hg. ) is dark-brown and round. The free oviduct 

 {ov.) which is long in A. hortensis, is here quite short, whilst on the other hand, the 

 sperm-duct (sjo.) is longer in A. bourguignati, and the " Patronenstrecke " {pat.) is not 

 swollen. But perhaps the most apparent difference between the two species is the 

 shape of the receptaculura (rec.) which in this species terminates in a long pointed 

 apex. A. bourguignati has only one large vestibule {lv.\ viz. the lower, whilst in 

 A. hortensis there are two. 



Reproduction. — I have not been able to observe the deposition of eggs in this 

 species, although large numbers of specimens were kept in confinement during the 

 months of September and October. 



This and the almost complete absence of adults in September lead me to think 

 that reproduction takes place early in the summer. This agrees with Simroth's 

 (38) observations, who also found only half-grown forms during winter. 



Habitat. — This species is not nearly so common as the preceding one, but still 

 it has a wide distribution in Europe. I have obtained it commonly in my garden 

 where the soil is heavy, and also among moss and under stones in the Dublin 

 Mountains. In Kerry I found it on Valentia Island and at Lough Caragh, whilst 

 Miss Warren sent me a specimen from Ballina, in Sligo. 



I met with the largest specimens in June and July, but never in the daytime. 

 This, no doubt, accounts for the fact of its having been comparatively rarely met 

 with on the Continent, for Simroth (38) states that it is rare during summer, 

 whilst Mabille (24) speaks of it as "une espfece d'hiver." 



Food. — Like the last, this species does not thrive in captivity, and although 

 they will nibble at pieces of apple and rhubarb stalk, they appear to me to prefer 

 decaying vegetation. I never found it among fungi, but in my garden, when it 

 emerged from the ground early in the evening along with Agriolimax agrestis, it, as 

 a rule, remained on the ground, whilst the latter ascended the pea plants, and did 

 a great deal of damage by eating the young shoots and flowers. It seemed to me 



