People who know me well, know that I have a thing for slugs.  I enjoy spending time in the forest and sometimes I’m inspired to capture an image of these lovely, delicate, creatures.  In this post, I’d like to share a couple of these images, perhaps with some slug facts, so everyone can get to know my gastropod friends a little better. 

This first image provides a dramatic contrast of the black Arion ater, sometimes called a licorice slug, with what seems to be a lovely white specimen of a Ariolimax columbianus, otherwise known as a Banana-slug, because sometimes they are bright yellow.  (I also have since read that the young Arion can be white, so I wish that I examined this pair a bit more closely… but see its faint spots, and its smoother texture, that says banana-slug to me.  Still I am open to other opinions, if you have one please do speak up.)

The black Arion ater getting chummy with a pale Ariolimax columbianus.

The Arion is a native of Europe and considered an invasive species in the land where I observe him.  Of course he’s not really a him, but I expect that he’s not fussed about pronouns.  Slugs are hermaphrodites and while they prefer to find a mate, they can self-fertilize should they find themselves alone.  An individual slug can lay over a hundred eggs every couple of weeks during the later months of summer.  It takes just under a month for a slug egg to hatch, but perhaps a bit longer once the days start getting colder. Then it takes about 9 months for that juvenile to become an adult, allowing it to start reproducing the following summer. 

There is a lot more I could say about slug sex, but really is anyone listening?  For now I’ll just add that the hole on the side of its head is a “genital pore” and while it has both male and female gametes, it doesn’t actually have a penis…  They are really so interesting, for such humble creatures, ideally you can see why I pay them homage during my time in the forest.

The Ariolimax is a native slug of the Pacific Northwest and one of the largest you will find.  It can grow up to 25 cm in length and can live to be up to seven years old.  In my opinion a critter has to be a bit wily to spend year after year, homeless and without legs, living so close to the forest floor. Knowing this, perhaps we should not underestimate the wisdom and experience that this species have earned?

Here is another image of the perfect Ariolimax. This time olive green, the colour they often express where I spend my time in the forest.  But who are these fine friends the he/she is spending time with?  Why it seems that it they are examples of the Yellow-bordered Taildropper! Also known as Prophysaon foliolatum, another native of my hometown’s forests.

A charming green Ariolimax sharing a meal with two gentle Prophysaon beauties.

This beautiful tail-dropper is very distinctive, look at the reticulation on the main part of its body, the yellow border and the black stripes of its mantle.  When this critter is attacked it can self-amputate, and release a great deal of sticky slime along with its severed tail.  Theoretically, the attacker is then distracted by the slime and the tail piece, allowing the vital remaining front parts of the specimen to escape. This Prophysaon grows to about 9 cm in length, and when full grown it could release the back 3 cm of its length during its signature tail-drop.

Before I wrap up this post, here is one more image of our friendly tail-dropper. 

The intact Prophysaon, with its distinct yellow margin, but also look a little more closely… Do you see where this he/she could drop a portion of its tail, should life suddenly become so serious?

I really enjoy the slugs a lot and I hope that after reading this, you will appreciate them more now too. Take care and when in the forest, please do watch where you are stepping…