COI.l.IEK : Ki;.MINISCENCES AM) rKACTICAI. HINTS ON COLLECTINC. 79 



// nemoralis I have often found in old stone walls, wiiere no mortar 

 lias been used, and in wet weather they crawl out and are easily seen, 

 hut //. hortcnsii seems to prefer grassy banks, and is seldom found 

 on walls. 



Whilst speaking of H. ne/noralis, I have sometimes found in this 

 country the var. aIl>oIal>iata, both in the colour varieties, libellula and 

 rubella^ more in the limestone districts of Derbyshire than elsewiiere. 

 In the west of Ireland, where I went every September for many years 

 with my friend, the late Dr. G. W. Chaster, this variety is very 

 abundant in all its various bandings, including 00300 and (12345), 

 and in some districts outnumbers the type. H. nei/ioni/is varies very 

 much in colour, but only in some localities do you find all the colours 

 associated together. From my experience I should say that in a 

 damp and shady locality you will find far more colour variation than 

 in any other. In exposed situations on the sand-dunes in the west 

 of Ireland I have generally found all the H. neinoralis to be of the 

 var. libellula in various bandings, but where there was cover, if only 

 nn old wall, you sometimes found the var. rubella, especially when 

 there was plenty of shade, as in Mr. Delap's garden, on Valencia 

 Island, where very richly coloured libellula and rubella with their 

 various bandings occur, many of the var. albolabiala, but none of 

 the vars. castanea or olivacea. I have collected this species in a good 

 many localities in Switzerland, up to 4,000 — 4,500 feet, but they 

 were generally libellula, mostly 00000 or 00300, many with the band 

 very pale, and different from the very dark and distinct bands in 

 other localities. 



In the south and west of Ireland are found very richly coloured 

 and well and evenly grown H. neinoralis. The climate is very mild, 

 and the winter short, so that they do not hibernate as long as in 

 most parts of this country. I found a few specimens at Ballyvaughan, 

 in Co. Clare, where the dark mouth has been completed, but evidently 

 it has lived for some considerable time after, and has extended the 

 shell a little further ; but this extension is of a whitish colour. One 

 which I collected at Bundoran, with a peculiar extension of the 

 mouth, has, I think, been caused by wind-blown sand irritating the 

 animal whilst crawling, and to protect itself it must have formed a 

 mucous secretion, and in course of time thickened this inside in the 

 ordinary way when repairing a damage. I was fortunate enough 

 when staying at Nevin, in North Wales, in August, 1901, to take a 

 specimen of H. neinoralis that had been badly broken for the last 

 half whorl, but a considerable portion of the mouth was left. It had 

 commenced to repair the damage by covering over tiie portion broken 

 away with a layer of nmcus, but it had not thickened it, and although 



