Large roadside slug: description and photo

Only the word "slug" makes people disgusted. A disgusting, rather vile, formless slippery creature immediately appears before your eyes, which always creeps somewhere.

Is it really that nature has no intelligence that could produce such an unnecessary animal that is useless to anybody? To find the answer, it is necessary to study in more detail, what is characterized by a large road slug, a photo of which is now before your eyes. Having become acquainted with the slug description, a person will have an idea of what the appearance of this creature is, what way of life it leads, where its habitats are.

Large roadside (or leopard) slug: appearance

Representatives of this species are the largest of all kinds of large slugs. In different parts of the world, these mollusks are imported from Europe, which is their homeland. A large roadside slug is the clam of the squad. Pulmonary snails. His body consists of one leg that merges with the slug's head and is called the sole. The body length of the mollusk reaches 10 to 20 cm. Sometimes the animal's body grows to 30 cm. It is wrinkled, somewhat rounded, at the end of the back part is pointed.

The body of slugs on both sides is symmetrical. From above it is covered with a so-called mantle in the form of a plate. Under it are the organs of reproduction and anus. On the tail is the keel.

Slug coloration is from light gray to chestnut, sometimes yellowish-white or ashy. The entire body of the large roadside slug is covered with black spots and stripes. This "sweet" creature has very long tentacles. Their mucus is colorless.

Internal structure

On the back under the skin of the shellfish is visible a shell, which, like all other slugs, is strongly reduced. The color of the shell is white, shaped like an oblong oval, its length is 13 mm and its width is 7 mm. It is assumed that there are stored medicinal substances. This shell was known from ancient times and used for medicinal purposes.

The digestive system of leopard slug consists of the radula, pharynx, esophagus and intestine. In the intestine, four departments have a connection to the liver, and the other two simply hang freely inside the body.

At first glance, this slug resembles a very simple creature, but it has a nervous system that consists of ganglia. Each ganglion has its place: the pedal lies under the radula, the abdominal is slightly to the right of the middle line, and the visceral ganglia are defined in the middle between the esophagus and the ligulate membrane.

Habitat

The habitats of a large roadside slug cover large areas. The area of residence is in the zones of humid and temperate climatic zone. Slugs live only in biotopes with sufficient humidity. For them, a very comfortable habitat is the litter of deciduous forest.

Slugs are native inhabitants of Australia, New Zealand and North America. They are also found in Western and Central Europe, in the Caucasus, where their favorite places are fields, meadows, forests, gardens and caves.

Large roadside slug: what to feed

These molluscs are herbivorous, they are not too whimsical when choosing food. When kept in the terrarium, they should be provided with vegetables, fruits and mushrooms. Separately, we need to focus on what feeds on a large roadside slug in places of natural living.

The main food for shellfish is vegetation. Leopard slug feeds on fallen leaves, flowers, fruits and soft stems of living plants. Sometimes in his diet there are mushrooms. Although these slugs also eat a lot, showing voracity, if necessary, they can live without food for about 60 days while being in a humid place.

Large roadside slug: reproduction

This kind, like all slugs, is inherent in the hermaphroditic reproductive system. Each individual has sexual organs that correspond to the sex. Sex products become mature with a difference in time. First, sperm are maturing. She presents packed sachets - spermatophores. Then the mucus is released from the males. This substance is endowed with a smell, according to which slug is found by its congenital.

The marriage ceremony at the large road slugs takes place in a very unusual way. Molluscs hang on the slimy filaments head down, their bodies are woven into a single glomerulus by the sexual organs. Since the blue penises of slugs reach a great length, it is not always possible to unravel the married couples. In this case, some individuals resort to extreme measures and bite off the sexual organ, which after a while grows.

After fertilization, the mollusk makes egg laying in the ground, on average one adult can lay 30 to 70 large eggs. Their development takes place within 21-35 days, after which small slugs appear on the light. Sexual maturity in them comes in 60 days. These animals live no longer than two years.

Economic importance. Damage caused

For the sake of nature slugs bring some benefit, being the orderlies. They are able to process fallen leaves from trees, making them humus. But most of all, these mollusks, including a large road slug, cause quite a significant damage to agriculture.

Especially the big harm these gluttonous creatures inflict potatoes, eating tubers and foliage of a plant. Suffering from the invasion slugs colored and white cabbage, various varieties of lettuce, root vegetables, young plants of vegetables, as well as fruits of strawberries, tomatoes and cucumbers. Vineyards and whole citrus plantations are affected by this pest.

Much less damage is caused by a large roadside slug to the following crops:

• Red cabbage.
• Roots and leaves of parsley.
• Onion and garlic.
• Crops of barley and oats.

Spring wheat, flax and buckwheat almost do not feel the invasion of slugs. In addition to the fact that shellfish gluttonously destroy crops, they are still carriers of fungal and viral diseases. Among these pests is a large roadside slug. The description of these diseases, including the spotting of cabbage, potato phytophthora and downy mildew, makes it possible to once again verify the harmfulness of the slug. In this connection, the question arises, how can one get rid of such a nasty enemy?

Methods and methods to combat slugs

Before you find out what effective methods exist to fight slugs, you need to study and use all available prevention measures in time. First of all, it is necessary to ensure that the sites have a large number of natural enemies slugs. To them belong hedgehogs, frogs and toads.

In addition, around the site you need to make a trench, and also sprinkle it with sand, pine needles, lime and crushed eggshell. Such a barrier slugs will have to bypass the side. Plants on beds should be kept in a weed-free condition, in time to thin them.

You can fight slugs by collecting them with your hands. To do this, for the night between the plants lay out pieces of wet bark or a pile of mown grass, under which the pest will hide. In the morning, the pest collection under the name "a large roadside slug" begins quietly by hand. How to get rid of it, people know a lot of ways, one of them is the catching of shellfish with a can of beer, which in this case serves as a bait for slippery uninvited guests.

If the aforementioned methods did not succeed in getting rid of slugs and mass reproduction of pests has already occurred, it will be necessary to use chemical preparations. At present, new generation funds have appeared, which do not represent any danger to the environment.

Interesting Facts

Do you know which animal on the planet ranks first among the toothy ones? Probably, it is very interesting for each person. Though surprising, the most toothy creature that is not a predator is a large road slug. In his language there are about 30 thousand teeth! This tongue-grater helps the slug to grind all the foods that it feeds on and make large holes in them .

It can be concluded that among the toothy individuals there are not only large predators, but also mollusks, which belong to the smallest representatives of the animal world.