Notes on the Habits of Testacella

Abstract

UNDER the above heading in NATURE, vol. xxxiv. p. 617 (October 28, 1886), Prof. E. B. Poulton recorded the capture of twenty-two specimens of this rare slug upon a wall in Oxford. On that occasion there had been exceptionally heavy rains, and it was suggested that the, animals had been driven out of their usual habitat, the earth, as it became sodden with moisture. I am in a position to confirm the accuracy of this suggestion. Last evening I captured five specimens of Testacella haliotidea upon a stone wall near Charterhouse. The slugs were apparently crawling out of the ivy which thickly clothes the top of the wall, and were making their way back to the earth. During the previous eight days no less than 3.80 inches of rain fell at this place. It seems probable that the slugs had taken refuge in the dense shelter of the ivy while the soil was unfit for them, and that on the return of hot, dry weather were once again seeking their subterranean quarters.