A live slug

24 Monday Oct 2022

Tags

Arion rufus, British slugs, Large red slug

I was rather concerned when, last month, I read a report that ecologists were concerned the slug and snail populations may have been devastated by the summer heatwaves and drought (The Guardian, 27 September 2022). Though I’m sure many gardeners would rejoice at this news, their slimy little enemies do play an essential part in our ecosystems, breaking down vegetation and aerating soils, as well as being food for birds, hedgehogs, etc. Fortunately, for the slugs and snails, they are apparently excellent reproducers so their populations should bounce back next year. Still, I was really pleased to spot this handsome Large red slug (Arion rufus) sliding along the path during yesterday’s walk.

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Under the log

29 Saturday Dec 2018

Posted by sconzani in fungi, insects, molluscs, nature, slugs, winter

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#7DaysofWildChristmas, brain fungi, Catinella olivacea, Cogan Wood, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, earthworms, Harvestman, orange slime, slugs, snails, turning over logs, woodlice

The weather was back to grey and drizzly again today so I donned my wet weather gear and headed to Cogan Wood to spend part of day 5 of my #7DaysofWildChristmas challenge turning over a few rotten logs and branches. And what did I find lurking there?

Woodlice; snails both long and rotund; earthworms; luscious balls of orange slime; tiny globular balls that looked like the eggs of something or other; pale little lumps of White or Crystal brain fungi; slugs brown and black; a stripey legged Harvestman; miniscule white mushrooms adorned with drops of water; a young centipede or millipede – I can never be quite sure which is which; dark little cup fungi, black with olive rims (Catinella olivacea) – very pleased with that find; and various other things, the photographs of which were either out of focus or too grainy due to the poor light conditions in the woodland. There’s nothing quite like getting wild and muddy – it was fun!

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Botanising, with insects

30 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by sconzani in animals, birds, insects, molluscs, nature, slugs

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Bloody-nosed beetle, Brynna, Click beetle, Glamorgan Botany Group, grasshopper, moths, Nettle weevil, rooster, sheep, slugs

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I returned from my last Botany Group walk with more photos of insects – and other living creatures – than plants. The Gorse weevil got a blog of its own yesterday; now here are some of our other finds.

Firstly, a couple more weevils, both on nettle and the second one is definitely a Neetle weevil (Phyllobius pomacues) but I’m not sure about the first. The Click beetle was also found on nettle.

These two were at a farm we passed through; the sheep was lording it over the home paddock and the rooster was king of the farmyard. Both handsome dudes!

A nice little grouping of slug species, with their small friend, the Granny Grey, and a grasshopper. There were lots of these hopping round on grass and rushes in a boggy field. It may be a juvenile Meadow grasshopper but I’m not 100% sure.

A little flock of Micropterix cathella moths were feasting on this grass flower, and there were lots of other small moths, probably one of the Bactra species, plus an unidentified spider with a distinctive striped body.

And last, but certainly not least, these Bloody-nosed beetles (Timarcha tenebricosa). The photo on the left shows the chubby larva and on the right is the adult beetle munching on a grass stalk.

A Large red slug

19 Tuesday Jul 2016

Posted by sconzani in nature, slugs

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Arion rufus, Chocolate arion, European red slug, Large red slug, mollusc, Red slug

Gardeners will look at these pictures and want to squash this not-so-little critter or, if they’re feeling kindly, drown it in beer – what a way to die! – whereas when I found this slug, I thought ‘Wo, what a wonderful looking creature you are!’

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Having been a gardener and lost many a cherished seedling to the ravages of my slug’s cousins, I can certainly sympathise with their need to destroy all slugs.

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And, perhaps if I still had a garden, I might have been tempted. But even then, I don’t know. I mean it’s just so cute.

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Look at that pretty orange-and-black-striped skirt! Look at that dimpled brow!

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And when it began to poke out its little tendrils / eyes and waved them at me, I was lost.

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This is probably Arion rufus, commonly known as the Red slug, the Large red slug, the Chocolate arion or the European red slug.

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Feeling sluggish

11 Friday Dec 2015

Posted by sconzani in fungi, nature, nature photography, slugs

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cemetery, fungi, fungus, gastropod mollusc, Leopard slug, slug

Once the rain stopped this afternoon, I went out for a wander, looking to see if there were any new fungi after the dampness of recent days. What I found were shell-less terrestrial gastropod molluscs, big fat slippery slimy slugs that had at least partially devoured many of the tasty-to-them, newly sprouted mushrooms.

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Isn’t it interesting that we use a lot of ‘slug’ idioms and expressions in the English language? If we are fighting, we are also slugging it out. If we’re working hard at a task, we’re slugging away at it. If we’re having a shot of alcohol, we’re having a slug of the drink. Well, today I saw many literal illustrations of the word sluggish: all those terrestrial gastropod molluscs, like the Leopard slug (Limax maximus) in my photos, were looking decidedly sluggish as they sleepily digested the hefty portions of fungi they’d consumed for their lunch.

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In case you’re a gardener and think I should have killed this creature, this slug is actually one of the good guys. It won’t damage healthy living plants, preferring fungi, rotting plants and even other slugs, and it recycles nutrients, helping to fertilise the soil.

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