General Information

Slugs
Scientific name: Deroceras sp., Arion sp., Milax sp.
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Arionidae; Limacidae

Hosts

Most agricultural and horticultural crops

Distribution

Worldwide but found especially in temperate countries

Damage

Slugs feed on any seedlings and soft plant parts, the ripening fruit vegetables that are close to the soil, citrus fruit, banana, grapes, root crops, and organic matter. Their feeding damage on the leaves is irregular large holes but they can consume the young seedlings completely.

Description

The eggs are about 4 mm in diameter, colorless, gelatinous and watery, and are laid in cluster of 10 - 50 eggs beneath the soil surface. They hatch after 10 days but it can be up to 100 days in cooler temperatures.

The hatchlings are very small, transparent, and resemble the adult counterparts. They mature in less than a year.

The mature slug does not have a hard protective spiral shell but has a little hard shell enclosed in its mantle. A slug protects its entire body with a sticky slime. Its size ranges from 1.2 - 25 cm and its appearance and habit vary depending on the species. Its color also varies from ash-gray, light brown, yellowish-gray, brownish- orange, to black.

Some species have the same color in their entire bodies but others have streaks. Slugs die in high temperatures or during winter, but under normal conditions they can live up to 6 years. Their lifecycle continues because the eggs can withstand both the extreme temperatures. They have thick outer shells made of calcium carbonate .