1905.] 



Slugs and Snails. 



60 r 



according to whom the eggs are laid in batches, as many as 477 

 being deposited by one slug. "While depositing the eggs," 

 says Mr. Wotton, " the slug remained throughout in the same 

 position on the surface of the ground, with the head drawn up- 

 underneath the mantle, which was lifted just above the repro- 

 ductive orifice. After it had finished laying it late half a raw 

 potato and then took a bath, remaining submerged for more' 

 than an hour." 



The eggs are oval, opaque bodies, and take about thirty to 

 forty days to hatch. The young slug buries itself at once in the 

 earth. It is at first 9 mm. long, about 56 mm. at the end 1 

 of five months, while full growth is attained about the middle 

 of the second year. Death occurs usually at the end of the 

 second or beginning of the third year. The shell consists of 

 small, separate grains of very unequal size. 



(6) The Small Arion {Avion hortensis. Fer.). 



This is a small slug, not more than an inch and a-half long. 

 It is very variable in colour ; brown, grey, dull yellow, green, or 

 black forms may occur, nearly always distinctly marked on the 

 back and sides with long bands or stripes, and covered with 

 coarse, oblong tubercles. The shield has a dark stripe down« 

 the middle, and one on each side. The foot has a narrow 

 border of grey, red or orange. This common slug does a great 

 deal of harm, and occurs in gardens and fields, hiding under 

 stones and fallen leaves wherever it is damp. The eggs take 

 from twenty to forty days to mature, and the slugs reach 

 their full growth at the end of their first year. 



(7) Earthworm-Eating Snail-Slug 

 ( Test ace lla Jialiotidea). 



This slug, which sometimes reaches three inches in length, 

 is found in gardens and at the bottom of flower-pots and boxes, 

 and in heaps of leaf mould. This and two other species hunt 

 for earthworms in their burrows and devour them wholesale, 

 and also feed on snails and slugs. They do no harm to vegeta- 

 tion, and should be protected and not destroyed. The radula 

 has very long teeth, and there is a distinct external shell, so- 

 that they come between the snails and slugs. They take four 



