| Garden Slug (Arion hortensis (de Férussac, 1819)) |
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Scientific name: Arion hortensis (de Férussac, 1819) Common name: Garden Slug Other names: Garden Arion, Small Striped Slug, Black Field Slug, Yellow-soled Slug, Southern Garden Slug. French name: Limace des jardins, Limace horticole, Limace noire Order: Stylommatophora Size: 30 to 40 mm. Habitat : Gardens, fields and meadows. The garden Slug is mainly active during the night and shelters in damp areas during the day, under rocks or under the litter. Food: Plants, leaves, roots, bulbs and tubercles. Reproduction : Cross-fertilizing hermaphrodite. The Garden Slug can lay from 300 to 500 eggs, in several times, between May and the autumn. These eggs are laid into the soil or under a stone. Geographic area: Southern and western Europe. Introduced to North America and to New Zeeland. |
The Garden Slug is a small size dark Slug which can be found in blackish grey, bluish grey or brownish forms. There is a black lateral band on each side of the body. The colour becomes paler towards the creeping sole which is pale yellow or orange coloured. The body has a cylindrical shape which hardly tapers at the rear. There is no keel. The back is rounded. It shows well marked lengthy dorsal wrinkles. The mantle is a small size. It is oblong shaped and slightly wider towards the rear. The pneumostome is located in the front part. The Garden Slug over winters at the egg stage or at the adult stage. There are, in fact, several similar species, including Arion distinctus. A close exam of the genitalia is required to tell species apart. |
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The Garden Slug, found under the litter, was over wintering at the adult stage. |
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Here, the creeping sole is a pale yellow colour. |
André Bon March 2012