Black Slug

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 In the moist long grass of the meadow these mornings I am seeing a lot of slugs. Slugs are mostly nocturnal but they are out and about enjoying the moisture I think. There are a number of species that look very similar that can only be distinguished by dissecting their genetalia - and I won't be doing that - so I will use the catch all "black slug" and not try to be more specific.

These creatures are like snails without a visible shell. The two sets of "feelers" detect different things. The upper set of feelers are sensitive to light and the lower set are for tasting. I imagine everybody will have learned as children that if you gently touch the feelers the slug withdraws them and that it will curl up into a ball as a defence mechanism if disturbed. Slugs are hermaphrodites and can fertilise their own eggs if they don't chance upon a partner. Slime is crucial to slugs. To start with the layer of slime helps to stop the slug drying out. Furthermore the covering of slime is distasteful to most animals - (although hedgehogs and badgers don't seem to be put off by it). Slugs lay little clusters of eggs in damp spots - compost heaps are a favourite place. Slugs like decaying vegetable matter most but will feed off growing vegetation if they have to and feed on decaying animal material too. The slime trails that slugs leave are used to communicate - a slug can detect a fellow of the same species and follow the slime trail for an opportunity to mate.

Diary
A flock of about 50 tree sparrows in the hedgerow by the lane. The stream is running dry again - it has been damp but we need quite a downpour to top up the water table. Noisy tawny owls in the night.


Comments

  1. EdenWildlife23 September 2021 at 08:40

    Thank you! Its great to get comment from India. I visited Bandhavgarh and Ranthambore in 2013 - fabulous places!

    ReplyDelete

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