GEdMAlACrS M.vruLosrs. 2."i9 



in the earth or flattening their bodies and penetrating deep down into the 

 deep and narrow rock-crevices, where they hide during the day. 



In captivity, they are described as very shiggish, and as lying for 

 days without movement, but they feed freely on bread, carrot, cabbage, 

 dandelion, encumber, and lettuce, but are also carnivorous, and even 

 predacious, having been noticed to devour the animals of VitriiKi pellucida 

 and other species contained in the same receptacle. Dr. Scharff has 

 verified by microscopical examinations of the contents of their stomach 

 that naturally their food is probably restricted to the various lichens and 

 liverworts, one of the most abundant species in the locahty frecj^uented by 

 the slug being Frullania dilatata, but in captivity they readily feed upon 

 the lichen Cladonia fiinhriatn. 



Variation. — The variation of this species is due to the true ground 

 colour varying from yellow to white, and also to the degree to which it is 

 overspread by a darker shade, which may vary from pale-grey ov greenish- 

 grey to almost uniform jet-black specimens, such as those found plentifully 

 by Mr. A. W. Stelfox on a grassy bank by the roadside on the often 

 cloud-capped hill near Glengariff. The paler varieties, according to the 

 careful observations of Mr. R. Welch, are more frequent upon the some- 

 what dry walls bounding the roadside, while the blacker forms were more 

 plentiful on or near the damp rock surfaces. The variation of the ground 

 colour from white to yellow gives, as a consequence, a stronger yellow 

 staining to the dermal-slime. 



rARrATIONS IN COLOUR AND ilARKlNGS OF AN[MAL. 



Var. allmani Heynemann, Mai. BL, 1873, p. 28, pi. 1. 



Geonialacns iiiaculosus var. allvtani Heynemann, op. ciL. 



ANurAL dark brown or blackish-grey, with whitish iiiacnlations. 



IRELAND. 



Cork S.— Glen'iarifi'(Stubbs aiul Adams, Irisli Nat., Nov. 1898, p. -ilU). 



Kerry — Two or three on the trunk of a tree, in company with hiiiri.r (ij-liorimi 

 var. bettonii, north of Lough Caragh, June 1904 ! \V. West. An island in Dingle 

 B.ay, W. .Andrews (.speciTuens in Coll., Urit. Mus.). Alniuilant on ihinip rocks and 

 along tlie peat margins close to rocks by Lower Cloonee Lake, July 1898, K Welcli. 



Var. verkruzeni Heynemann, ;\Ial. Bl, 1.S73, p. 31. 



Gcoinalacus maciciosits var. vifl^ru^zcni Hi;\nemann, op. cit. 



Ani.mal grev, darker dorsally, with wliite niaculatious. 



" ■' ■' IRELAND. 



Kerry — Lough Caragh (Heynemann, op. cit.). 



CONTINENTAL DISTRIBUTION. 



Portug-al— Sinirotli refers to var. vcrki-nrxni, a specimen from Las Gaklas de 

 Gerez, in-tlie province of Minho, described as pale-grey, toning to olive-green, with 

 yellowish-white fleckings. 



Var. andrewsi Mabille, Rev. et Mag. Zool., 1867, p. 57. 



Gcomalacus aiuh'cwsi Malaille, op. cit. 



xVnimal whitish, overspread with blackish spots. 



Tliis variety, named by Mabille, was originally based on a misapprehension of 

 the de.scriptioH of the English authors ; we have, however. Dr. Jeffreys autliority 

 tor the actual occurrence of whitish specimens with black spots. 



IRELAND. 



Kerry— Kocks along shores of Lough <'aragli near Killarney (JelVreys, Conch., 

 v., I,-|.5, 1869). 



