. The Cambridge natural history. Zoology; Zoologia Geral. 52 HABITS OF CARNIVOROUS SNAILS AND SLUGS chap. is decidedly averse to too much moisture, and under such cir- cumstances it has even been noticed ^ in considerable numbers crawling over a low wall. In the spring and autumn months, according to Lacaze-Duthiers,^ it comes to the surface at night, hiding itself under stones and debris during the day. Earth- worms are, at these periods, nearer the surface, and the Testacella has been seen creeping down into their burrows. The author has taken T. Maiigei abundantly under clumps of the common
. The Cambridge natural history. Zoology; Zoologia Geral. 52 HABITS OF CARNIVOROUS SNAILS AND SLUGS chap. is decidedly averse to too much moisture, and under such cir- cumstances it has even been noticed ^ in considerable numbers crawling over a low wall. In the spring and autumn months, according to Lacaze-Duthiers,^ it comes to the surface at night, hiding itself under stones and debris during the day. Earth- worms are, at these periods, nearer the surface, and the Testacella has been seen creeping down into their burrows. The author has taken T. Maiigei abundantly under clumps of the common white pink in very wet weather, lying in a sort of open nest in the moist earth. On the other hand, when the earth is baked dry by continued drought, they either bury themselves deeper, sometimes at a depth of 3 feet, in the ground, or else become encysted in a capsule of hardened mucus to prevent evaporation from the skin. When first taken from the earth and placed in a box, the Testacella invariably resents its capture by spitting up the contents of its stomach in the shape of long fragments of half-digested worms. It appears not to bite the worm up before swallowing it, but contrives, in the most remarkable manner, to take down whole. Fig. 20.— Testacella hallotidea Drap,, protruding its pharynx (ph) and radula (r) ; oe, oesophagus; , pulmonary orifice; sh, shell; t, tentacles (after Lacaze- Duthiers). worms apparently much too large for its stomach. Mr. Butterell relates^ that, after teasing a specimen of T. Maugei^ and making it emit a quantity of frothy mucus from the respiratory aperture, he procured a worm of about three inches long, and rubbed the worm gently across the head of the Testacella. The tongue was rapidly extended, and the victim seized. The odontophore was then withdrawn, carrying w^ith it the struggling worm, which made every effort to escape, but in vain; in about five minutes all had disappeared except the head, which was rejected. This protrusion
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1895
