652 



Slugs and Snails. 



[FEB., 



shelters in spring and commence to devour the nearest tender 

 leaves. 



(2). The Wood Snail {Helix nemoralis. Linn,). 



This is about the first snail to make its first appearance in 

 the spring, and it has been found crawling about even in 

 February. It is abundant in hedgerows and upland pastures, 

 and especially amongst clover, sainfoin, and lucerne, where it 

 does much damage at times. It will also eat any other vege- 

 tation, and even meat. The colour of the shell of this snail 

 is very variable, being white, grey, pale yellow, pink, or brown, 

 with one to five spiral brown bands. Now and then the 

 bands may be confluent or interrupted ; there are normally 

 5^ whorls, the last being three-fifths of the shell. The live 

 mollusc is brown, tinged with yellow, and covered with small 

 tubercles, with a greenish mantle with yellow specks, and long, 

 slender tentacles. The lip surrounding the mouth is black. 



(3) . The Allied Wood Snail {Helix hortensis. Miiller). 



This can at once be distinguished from the former by the lip 

 being white, not black. It occurs in the same localities, and 

 some authorities consider it to be a variety of the wood snail. 



(4) . The Strawberry Snail {Helix rufescens. Pennant). 



This small snail is one of the worst pests in the garden, and 

 occurs in all parts from Westmorland to Cornwall ; it is a 

 frequent source of annoyance in strawberry beds and amongst 

 violets. Iris and other garden plants and vegetables are fre- 

 quently stripped, and beds of strawberries have been quite 

 spoiled by them. This snail is seldom as much as half an inch 

 long. The shell is compressed above and angularly rounded 

 below, of an opaque dirty grey, reddish-brown colour, or brown 

 marked with a white spiral band which passes around the last 

 whorl, transversely streaked with brown ; the number of whorls 

 varies from six to seven, and the last whorl equals about half the 

 shell. The snail is yellowish-brown, with dark brown stripes 

 running along the neck and on the tentacles, and the foot is 

 pale, narrow, and slender. 



The strawberry snail never goes out in the daytime except 

 after rain. A single specimen may lay from forty to sixty eggs 



