BRITISH SLUGS 



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In L. max. cellaria the longitudinal bands 

 arc broken into oblong, roundetl patciies, 

 black on a pinkish-grey ground colour. 

 As the name suggests, it is a frequenter of 

 cellars, gardens, outhouses, etc., and not 

 found in open country. This is a char- 

 acteristic of the Liinux tribe in general. 



Limax flaviis is a very handsome slug 

 of golden-yellow colour, tinging to ohve ; 

 the colour, being due greatly to the slime 

 excretion and condition of the animal, 

 varies in briUiancy of the yellow. When 

 in captivity the colour becomes darker 

 and more of the olive tint. The " shield " 

 has a mottled appearance, varying the 



Limax cinereo niger is a class that con- 

 tains the largest and most brilliantly 

 coloured varieties of any group as repre- 

 sented by the Italian and other European 

 forms. In the British Isles, however, 

 the cool chmate produces only the type 

 form — black, and uniform dark colourings. 



The type form shows the body a dark 

 slaty black, with the clearly distinguished 

 white dorsal hne and central part {,f the 

 " foot-sole," the outer borders of which 

 are of similar dark colour as the body. 

 The " keel," extending about half the 

 length of the body, and sometimes the 

 whole, is much accentuated towards the 



LIMAX FLA\-US (I'AR. LIVIDA). 



two colours ; the " fringe," or muscular 

 border adjoining the " foot-sole " of the 

 animal, shows the brightest colour, whilst 

 the " foot-sole " itself is nearly white. 



The plantar surface is marked with 

 transverse bars, which when seen in 

 motion through glass show a most won- 

 derfully fluent action, as continuous as 

 the rippHng of water in a breeze. In 

 beautiful contrast with the body colour, 

 the tentacles are transparent blue. 



The eggs are deposited in moist crannies 

 under logs, etc., between July and as 

 late as December, in batches of half-a- 

 dozen to twenty, hatching after forty to 

 sixty days, the animal becoming fully 

 grown in a year. 



L. flavHs is a voracious feeder, eating 

 bread, cooked meat, and butter equally 

 with mildew of walls or fungus of other 

 kinds. Lettuce and cabbage are eaten 

 in captivity, although fmigi and hchen 

 are preferred to green vegetation. 



tail, showing a distinct series of elevations ; 

 the rugosities of the skin are as coarse 

 as those of the Arionidcc. The " shield " 

 is one colour, and never mottled as L. 

 maximns and L. flavns, measuring two- 

 fifths the entire length of the slug. Of 

 the five sub-varieties L. cinereo niger 

 laduosa has been recorded in Yorkshire, 

 Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire, and 

 Glamorganshire. This variety shows a 

 yellowish-white " keel " and dorsal line 

 that only extends half the length of the 

 body. The species is a fungi feeder, less 

 nocturnal, and more active than L. 

 maximns, an inhabitant of pine woods, 

 hiding in the bark of the trees. In 

 Italy the red, yellow, or parti-coloured 

 varieties inhabit the plain, the darker 

 coloured animals the colder mountainous 

 districts. 



The Tree Slugs, L. arboriiin. are another 

 distinct group, slender in form and often 

 of beautiful colouring and marking. 



