BLAI^FOUD : AKIOPHANTA DALYI, N. SUBSP. 281 



with, several of the varieties of A. eysis, I thought the Mysore shell 

 must be regarded as distinct, and I described it as a separate specific 

 form. Colonel Beddome, however, on comparing the supposed new 

 shell with his fine series of A. cysis from various hill tracts near 

 the Malabar Coast, found that all passed into each other, and on 

 going over the series again with him I have come to the same 

 conclusion. I have long regarded^, ampidlaroides, Kv., and A. auris, 

 Pfr., as merely varieties of A. cysts, and I have specimens from the 

 Nilgiris that are intermediate in character between A. cysis and 

 A. thyrcBUs, though I do not think that a depressed shell, like 

 A. thyrmis, with a thickened margin to the aperture, should be 

 classed as a variety of a comparatively globose and thin-lipped form 

 like A. cysis. 



A precisely similar case is afforded by the group of dextrorse snails 

 known as Helix semirugata, Beck, {H. Tranquelarica, Beck), S. 

 Belangeri, Desh., H. vitellina, Pfr., and S. Bomhayana, Grat., except 

 that these forms, which are connected by intermediate varieties, 

 inhabit the lowlands of the Indian Peninsula and Ceylon, and have 

 a far greater range than Ariophanta cysis and its allies, which are 

 confined to the Southern Sahyadri, or Western Ghats, and are not 

 known to occur north of Mysore. Lieut. -Col. Godwin-Austen has 

 lately shown ' that M. semirugata and several other Indian snails have 

 animals closely resembling that of the type of Ariophanta. 



It is difficult to say what is the best solution of the problem 

 presented by the nomenclature of species or specific groups so varied 

 as A. cysis. Many naturalists will probably object to classing all 

 the forms together, and in any case some distinctive term is necessary 

 for varieties or subspecies that exhibit so many peculiarities as the 

 form figured below. I shall therefore give, a description and a sub- 

 specific name by which it may be identified. 



Aeiophanxa Dalti, n. subsp. (A. cysis, var.). 



Testa sinistrorsa, umbilicata, depresso-globosa, tenuis, oblique 

 striata, fusco-cornea, fascia pallida ad peripheriam circumdata, subtus 

 juxta umbilicum pallido-cornea ; spira convexo-conoidea, apice obtuso, 

 sutura leviter impressa; anfr. 5 convexiusculi, ultimus non descendens, 

 ad peripheriam obtuse angulatus, antice latior, superne planulatus, 

 subtus tumidus, nitidus ; apertura ampla, diagonalis, oblongo-ovata, 

 vix lunata, margine superiori recto ; perist. album, interdum roseo- 

 tinctum, margine superiori vix, dextrali basalique expansiusculis, 

 columellari reflexo. Diam. maj. 39, min. 31 ; alt. 22 mm. 



Hal. — Balur, province of Kadur, Mysore. 



This form differs from typical A. cysis by having a higher spire, 

 by the last whorl being subangulate at the periphery, by its darker 

 colour and by the whitish band round the last whorl. The mouth, too, 

 is differently shaped, owing to the upper margin in A. Lalyi being 



1 Laud and Fresh-water MoUusca of India, ii, p. 81. 



