33 

 ON THE OCCURRENCE IN IRELAND OF ARION 

 EMPIRICORUM, FER., VAR. BOCAGEI, SIMR. 



By WALTER E. COLLINGE, F.Z.S., 

 Mason University College, Birmingham. 



The interesting variety of Arion empiricoruin^ Fer., known as bocagei, 

 was described by Simroth in 1891.^ It is a Portugese form, and 

 differs from any recorded variety occurring in the British Isles, in 

 having a pale yellowish dorsum with sepia coloured sides. I have 

 placed on record a series of forms, found in the British Isles, closely 

 approaching it", viz. — 



" Subvar. nov. — Sides blackish, back grey ; margin of sole light- 

 yellow. Ireland (ScharfT.). 



Subvar. nov. — Sides blackish, back light bluish grey ; foot whitish, 

 margin of sole white. Yorkshire (CoUinge.). 



Subvar. nov. — Sides blackish, back greyish ; margin of sole light- 

 brown. Yorkshire (Collinge.). 



Subvar. nov. — Animal drab colour ; foot deep yellow, margin 

 bright orange. Guernsey (Roebuck.)." 



Since the above descriptions were published, similar variations 

 have been sent to me from various parts of the British Isles, and I 

 have made careful examinations of many hundreds of specimens in 

 connection with the variation of this species, but not until a few weeks 

 ago have I seen any form more closely approaching those figured and 

 described by Simroth. Through the kindness of my Irish friends I 

 have been favoured with large quantities of this species from the 

 south and south-west of Ireland, and in a recent consignment of some 

 forty examples collected near Cork, there was one specimen identical 

 in all external features with the var. bocagei, Simr. A dissection of 

 the generative organs showed no variation from the typical black 

 forms. Nearly all the remaining specimens were normal, excepting 

 two, which agree very closely with the example figured by Dr. Scharff,^ 

 and a single specimen of the var. hibermis, Mab. 



The occurrence of the variety bocagei in the south of Ireland and in 

 Portugal, relegates it, so far as distribution is concerned, to the same 

 category as that of Geomalacus maculosus^ Allm. Of course it would be 

 unwise to draw any conclusions from the occurrence of a single speci- 

 men, but the same seemed worthy of recording in the hope that Irish 

 malacologists would keep a look out for any similar forms in the future. 



1 Nova Acta, 1S91, Bd. Ivi, p. 347, T. xiii, figs. \a, ib. 



2 Ann. and Mag. N. H., 1892, vol. 9 (ser. 6), pp. 307-8. 



3 Trans. Roy. Dublin Soc, 1S91, vol. iv (ser. ii), p. 560, pi. Ivi, fig. 16. 



