206 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



sionally confluent or interrupted ; whorls 5j, convex, last f of 

 shell. The body of the mollusc is dark brown, tinged with 

 yellow, and covered with small tubercles ; mantle greenish, with 

 yellow specks ; tentacles long and slender. 



A well-marked variety, at one time regarded as specifically 

 distinct, is H. hortensis, which has the mouth white-lipped and 

 the rib of the same colour. A variety known as hybrida has the 

 mouth and rib of a pink colour. The arrangement of the bands 

 and markings of the shell are extremely variable, as is also the 

 colour of the animal itself. I have seen clover and lucerne 

 literally stripped by this snail in Wiltshire and in Wales. 



H. rufescens, Pennant, is a constant source of annoyance to 

 strawberry-growers, preferring those plants and violets to all 

 other plants. I have seen beds of strawberries in Surrey and 

 Cambridgeshire quite spoilt by this snail, and the fruit is attacked 

 as well as the young leaves. These snails are seldom seen in 

 the daytime, unless after a shower of rain, when they at once 

 become active. They may often be seen in summer under the 

 straw which is sometimes placed between the plants. They 

 deposit their eggs from September to November, each snail 

 depositing about sixty eggs. In my breeding-case the eggs were 

 on the ground in heaps, but I think naturally they place them 

 below the surface of the ground. The ova hatch in about three 

 weeks, but a few remain undeveloped until the spring. The 

 small snails do not grow very rapidly, as is the case with Helix 

 aspersa. The shell is compressed above and angularly rounded 

 below, opaque pale dirty grey, often with a reddish-brown hue, 

 sometimes transversely streaked with brown and marked with a 

 white spiral band which passes round the last whorl; whorls 

 6 — 7 ; last whorl = J-shell; mouth obliquely semilunar, furnished 

 inside with a broad white rib. The body of the snail is yellowish 

 brown with dark brown stripes running along the neck and on 

 the tentacles ; foot pale, narrow and slender. 



H. virgata, Da Costa, often does much harm to root crops 

 and grass lands. During the past year it appeared in large 

 numbers in parts of Kent, where it is well known on account 

 of its destructive habits. At Wye, on the farm belonging to 

 the S.E. Agricultural College, this and another snail caused 

 much loss amongst mustard plants, coming down whenever 

 there was any moisture from the chalk downs above the farm. 



