ScHARFF — On the Slugs of Ireland. 553 



Reproduction. — I found a few half-grown specimens along with the adults last 

 May, but did not observe the eggs. Dr. Simroth very kindly sent me the proof- 

 sheet of his large Memoir on the Slugs of Portugal and the Azores (40), and in it I 

 find a statement that a Signor de Silva e Castro had seen the eggs. They were 

 quite transparent, and very large, measuring from 5 to 7 mm. long, and 3 mm. 

 broad. Simroth obtained about 40 young ones at Las Caldas de Gerez, in Portugal. 



Habitat. — The first living specimens I have seen were presented to me last 

 April by Mr. A. G. More. They had been collected on the eastern shores of 

 Lough Caragh, in county Kerry, the same locality where Andrews had originally 

 discovered the slug. 



Li the following May, while retm-ning home from the dredging expedition to 

 the West Coast, organized by the Royal Dublin Society, I passed Lough Caragh, 

 and spent a portion of the night in hunting for this interesting slug, but without 

 success. The following morning I walked to the eastern shores of the lake, and 

 although I turned over hundreds of stones, I discovered nothing but Limax maximus, 

 L. marginatus^ and Arion ater. I was about to give up the search, when I noticed a 

 young sj)ecimen concealed among the lichens which grow here so abundantly on 

 the surface of the rocks, and, after a while, I found several others similarly 

 exposed to the full rays of the sun, it being then about two o'clock in the afternoon. 



The dark gray lichens, with the white or yellowish fructification, conceal the 

 slug perfectly, and there is no doubt that we have here a most striking instance 

 of protective colouring. Lough Caragh is situated close to the head of Dingle 

 Bay, in County Kerry, and, up to quite recently, it was the only spot in Ireland 

 where this slug had been found, but, during last autumn, Mr. Scully discovered it 

 about twenty-five miles further south, on the Kenmare and GlengariiS road.* 



I notice in Simroth's (40) proof, referred to above, that he found this species 

 among lichens at the foot of a granite wall in the province of Minho, in Northern 

 Portugal. A single specimen was collected in 1868, according to Heynemann (13), 

 by Lucas Von Heyden, in the province of Asturias, in Northern Spain. Two other 

 species, G. oliveirce and G. anguifonnisj from Central and Southern Portugal, will 

 be described in Simroth's forthcoming Memoir (40).| 



Food. — G. maculosus undoubtedly lives on lichens, as I have been able to 

 demonstrate by microscopic examination of the contents of the intestine. 



In captivity it readily takes to other food, and thrives on dandelion leaves ; 

 and Heynemann (13) succeeded in keeping Irish specimens during a whole winter 

 on lettuce, gherkins, &c. 



General Bistribution.-f — Northern Portugal, and N. W. Spain. 



* In May, 1891, I found this species abundantly still fiu-thcr South at Glengaiiff, county Cork. 

 t The question of the peculiar geographical distribution of this slug will be dealt with in a special 

 Memoir, which I hope to publish during the course of this year. 



TRANS. EOT. DUB. SOC, U.S. VOL. IV., PAra' X. 4 H 



