Species Of The Week Number 9: Green Cellar Slug

Not sure this one will get many Instagram likes!

The attractively-patterned Green Cellar Slug has something in common with Meanwood's White-clawed Crayfish and Grey Squirrels in that it is a participant in a battle between native and invasive species. Its arch-nemesis in the battle for ascendancy (equivalent the Signal Crayfish or Red Squirrel) is the Yellow Cellar Slug.

In this instance however it it is Green Cellar Slug that is the invader, being first spotted in the UK in the 1970s as opposed to the Yellow which was first documented in 1685. The Yellow has become increasingly difficult to find so if you do find one take a picture and upload it to iNaturalist. They both have clear yellow slime but the Yellow Cellar Slug exhibits a pale yellow stripe down its back which is the tell-tale sign..

Gardeners don't generally like slugs but both Green and Yellow are in fact detritivores, feeding on decaying plant material in gardens. They don't eat live plants. The best time to find them is at night and in the usual sluggy places, under logs and stones or, obviously, in a cellar.

If you have got to the end of this post then congratulations, you are now an amateur Limacologist (slug-studier). Happy slugging.

Posted on 24 de novembro de 2022, 02:42 PM by clunym clunym

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