THE NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY. 197 



"The eggs are globular, transparent, over two hundred in 

 number, laid in a compact mass."* 



Distribution: Europe, Asia Minor, Corsica, Sicily, Sardinia, 

 Azores, Madeira, New Zealand and United States. (Intro- 

 duced.) 



Habitat: Found principally in greenhouses under boards 

 and along the sides of the drains. In Rochester, N. Y., the 

 species is found plentifully under board sidewalks and in cel- 

 lars, in any part of the city. In Europe it is solitary in habit 

 and is found chiefly in the woods, under fallen trees and stones 

 and near the seashore. f 



Remarks: The present species is the largest of the genus 

 and is a voracious eater. Its food consists principally of fungi, 

 or, if living in a cellar, of meat and vegetables. It is said to 

 rarely eat green plants (vide Scharff). Instances are known 

 of its committing cannibalism, especially when very hungry and 

 when several specimens are together. The writer has several 

 times noted a peculiarity in the mucus of this slug, viz., that 

 it is sticky and will entangle the legs of flies or other insects 

 which alight upon the animal, and will act in the same manner 

 as fly-paper. Several flies have been noted in this predicament. 

 This species, as well as others of the genus, is principally noc- 

 turnal in habit. Like Vitrea draparnaldi it has been introduced 

 from Europe. It has not been detected, as yet, outside of the 

 greenhouses, where, however, it may be found in considerable 

 numbers. 

 76. Umax flavus Linne, pi. xxviii, fig. 27. 



Limax flavus LINNE, Syst. Nat., ed. X, Vol. I, p. 652, 1758. (non Miiller, 



1774.) 

 Limax variegatus DRAPARNAUD, Tab. Moll., p. 103 (1801). 



Shell: Rudimentary, oblong-oval, thin, concave below, 

 convex above; upper surface covered with a delicate periostra- 

 cum. The plate increases in thickness with age. 



Animal: Brownish or yellowish-brown in color, orna- 

 mented by numerous oval or oblong spots without color; 

 mantle rather large, oval, rounded before and behind, spotted 

 with large rounded blotches, and marked with fine, concen- 

 trical striae; eye-peduncles long, slender, tapering, blue in 

 color and semi-transparent; head and neck of same color as 

 eye-peduncles; tentacles short, white; general form of body 



*Binney, Man. Amer. Land Shells, p. 451. 



fScharff, The Slugs of Ireland, Sci. Trans. Roy. Dub. Soc., Vol. IV, Series II, No. 10. 1891. 



