JMt. 



196 AEION SU13FUSCUS. 



SALUAKY GLAXOS are yellowish, and frequently form a collar round the a:sophagus, 

 uniting above and embracing the anterior part of the crop, like turned up moustaches ; 

 the SALIVARY DUCTS white ; crop dusky-buff in colour, and distinctly wrinkled 

 longitudinally ; digestive gland dark brown. 



The JIANDIBLE or jaw is about H mill, broad and half mill, wide, crescentic 

 in shape, with rather acutely-rounded ends, arcuate from 

 front to back, but somewhat llexible, of a deep amljer- 

 brown colour along the lower or cutting-edge, gradually 

 blending with the paler tint of the upper nioity ; the 

 anterior surface bears ten to sixteen broad, rounded ribs, [J 



which show well-marked vertical strire, and strongly 

 crenulate the upper margin, and someti^mes denticulate J^°J,}t-;;^ZTuf^^'^p^''' 

 the lower margin also, especially near the centre, simu- (Christchurch.Mr.Ashford). 

 lating a rostrum or beak ; the interspaces between the 



projecting ribs is of perceptibly more delicate texture and shows the horizontal 

 wavy striation most perceptibly. 



The LINGUAL JIEMBRANE is obloug in shape, about 4i mill, long and two mill, 

 wide, and composed of about 140 slightly curved transverse rows of closely-set teeth, 

 which appreciably diminish in size at the outer margin ; each row is composed of a 

 tricuspid median tooth, with about hfteen obscurely tricuspidate laterals, the 

 endocone gradually degenerating, and the ectocone acquiring correspondingly 

 •greater strength and importance ; the marginal teeth are about thirty in number 

 at each side, and are essentially and strongly bicuspidate, constituted by the well- 

 developed mesocone and ectocone. 



1^^. 36 25 ,«,..! 1 m 1 5 14. ,« !>< 36. .'^^ 



Flc:. 215. — Representative denticles from a transverse row of the lingual teeth of ^. sttb/uscits, X 180. 

 The animal collected by Mr. C. Ashford, and the palate prepared by Mr. J. W. Neville. 



The formula of a Christchurch specimen collected by Mr. C. Ashford is 

 -y- + ^-15 + 3 +*^ + -r ^ 1-K> = 12,740. . 



Reproduction and Development. — The congress of this species is 

 probably marked by the same blandishments and circular procession as in 

 Avion ater, yet although it breeds freely in confinement, no definite 

 "observations are on record. The eggs, which are chiefly deposited in the 

 late summer and autumn months, are oval in shape, averaging 3 mill, long 

 by '2^ mill, in diameter, of a dusky white, but sometimes amber or dull 

 primrose colour, or even pale green, translucent, and much clearer than 

 those of A. ater, slightly granulate on the surface, and connected together 

 by a colourless or yellowi.sh mucus ; they are laid upon or beneath the 

 gnnuul in clusters varying in number from about twenty to sixty or more. 

 The young apparently pass through the winter in the juvenile stage, as all 

 the specimens observed by Dr. Scharff, even as late as iVIay, were immature. 

 The young, according to Clessin, differ from those of A. (iter, which are 

 almost invariably of an uniform light yellow or greenish colour, as they are 

 usually darkly coloured, and only pale to some extent with age. 



Food and Habits. — A rion suhfuscus is naturally very partial to fungi, 

 and has been observed to frequent and feed upon liu.<su!((, fuscatu, as well 

 as the poisonous Agaricus mim-((rin!<. lu summer it has been observed 

 feeding upon the leaves of Leontodon unfitmiKde, but in autumn they 

 ilisplay a great ptirtiality for fungi. 



In cjiptivity, according to Mr, Wallis Kew, they eat bread and lettuce 

 freely, the decaying leaves of the Deadly Nightshade (Solaniiin ih/Jrumnrii) 

 are also eaten, as well as deail slugs of their own or other species. The 

 fungus Phallus hnpudiviis was also offered and greedily devoured, but the 

 animals feeding upon it died soon afterwards. 



