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Identification Guide Common Name: Ashy-Grey Slug Scientific Name: Limax cinereoniger Body Colour: Ash-grey colour Size: 25cm when fully grown Habitat: Found across the UK but normally restricted to mature and undisturbed woodlands and is often found under logs Extra Information: This slug has a yellow keel along its back from head to tail and is the largest native slug in the UK. The juveniles of this species have uniformly pale undersides. Common Name: Brown-Banded Arion Scientific Name: Arion circumscriptus Body Colour: Dark grey or brown Size: It can grow up to 5cm Habitat: Found in cool and humid forests and are often found on fallen logs Extra Information: The underside of this species is whitish and its mucus is colourless. The juveniles of this species have light grey sides. This slug feeds on humus, decaying leaf mould, and live and decaying vegetation. Common Name: Chestnut Slug Scientific Name: Deroceras invadens Body Colour: Grey-brown Size: 2-3.5 cm when mature Habitat: Widespread across the UK and can be found in gardens Extra Information: This species often has a pale ring around its respiratory pore. A good way to identify this slug is that it is fairly fast moving and will be the first slug to move away when disturbed. Common Name: Common Garden Slug Scientific Name: Arion distinctus/ Arion horntensis Body Colour: Brown Size: 3cm when mature Habitat: Common in the north of England, lowlands of Scotland and parts of Ireland and is common on agricultural land. Extra Information: Its underside is orange or yellow and so is its body mucus. Also it is striped lengthwise and covered in tiny gold spots. This species of slug attacks both leaf and root crop, and is a major pest of potatoes. Common Name: Common Keeled Slug Scientific Name: Tandonia budapestensis Body Colour: Black or grey Size: 6cm when mature Habitat: Remains mostly underground Extra information: This slug has a yelloworange ridge along its body, has a pale underside and colourless mucus. It will feed on newly drilled seeds underground, badly affecting crops such as potatoes. As it spends most of its time underground it is hard to control. Common Name: Dusky Slug Scientific Name: Arion subfuscus Body Colour: Pale shade of brown Size: 7cm at maturity Habitat: Common in most parts of the UK and are found in woodlands where it hides under stones and dead wood, hedgerows and is also found in gardens and allotments Extra Information: This slug also has dark brown lengthwise strips, orange body mucus, a yellow underside, colourless sole mucus and pale tentacles. This slug feeds mostly on fungi, decaying or yellowed foliage, unprotected plant parts (e.g. petals) and occasionally animal faeces, dead or injured earthworms and insect larvae. Common Name: Grey Field Slug Scientific Name: Deroceras reticulatum Body Colour: Varies but is normally light brown with a chain of darker veins and blotches Size: Between 3cm and 5cm in length (when extended) Habitat: Widespread throughout the UK and is common in gardens and on agricultural land Extra Information: The keel of this slug is cut short at the tail and the body can look lumpy. The mucus of this species is colourless and when disturbed mucus is produced in large quantities. Its underside is whitish with a darker zone along the centre. This species of slug feeds most commonly on seeds and plants above ground and is a major threat to cereal crops. Common Name: Large Red Slug and Black Slug Scientific Name: Arion rufus/ater Body Colour: Either orange-red or black. The most common colour is black with an orange fringe. Size: It can reach up to 12cm in length Habitat: Common throughout the UK in most terrestrial habitats such as peat land, farmland and hedgerows. Extra Information: When this slug is alarmed it contracts into a spherical shape and might rock from side to side. Its mucus is colourless and this species of slug will sometimes eat seedlings on agricultural land. Common Name: Lemon Slug Scientific Name: Limax tenellus Body Colour: Bright Yellow Size: Maximum length is 4cm Habitat: Occurs throughout the UK although it is highly localised. This slug species is almost always found in woodland Extra Information: This species of slug feeds on fungi and is a very low risk to agricultural crops. It has dark tentacles and a small keel at the end of its body. It is also a good indicator of ancient sites. Common Name: Leopard Slug Scientific Name: Limax maximus Body Colour: Brown or grey with brown or black spots/blotches. The colouration of both juveniles and adults is similar. Size: It can grow up to 16cm in length Habitat: This slug species is widespread and common in the UK and they favour woodland and old gardens with mature trees. Extra Information: The underside of the slug is white and it has an obvious keel along the rear of its body. Its mucus is sticky and this species is a low risk to agricultural crops. Leopard slugs don’t damage living plants, but eat other slugs including species that can damage garden plants and vegetables. They also eat dead and rotting plants along with fungi and this recycles nutrients and fertilises soil. The Leopard slug can be easily confused with other juvenile slugs, due to its markings; however juveniles will be less than 7cm in length. Common Name: Orange-Banded Arion Scientific Name: Arion fasciatus Body Colour: Yellowish grey or brown Size: It can grow up to 5cm or even 7cm in length Habitat: Mainly lives in open habitats and can be found in shady places below trees and bushes in herbs and in leaf litter. Extra Information: The underside of this species is yellowish and it may have a slight keel. The juveniles are light greyish brown and have darker bands. Common Name: Silver slug Scientific Name: Arion silvaticus Body Colour: Grey-Brown with dark coloured longitudinal stripes Size: It can grow to 3-4cm Habitat: Fairly frequent and widespread in the UK, this species is often found under leaf litter, in acid woodland, heath land, sea cliffs and mountains. Extra Information: The underside of this species is whitish or cream coloured, its mucus is clear or light yellow and the head and tentacles are black. The juveniles of this species are light bluish grey with blurred darker bands and a whitish keel line. Common Name: Shelled Slug Scientific Name: Testacella scutulum Body Colour: Pale orange Size: 10cm in length when mature Habitat: It spends most of its life under the soil surface Extra Information: This is an extraordinary slug as it has a small finger- like shell of about 7-8mm long, covering its rear end. It has a yellowish or whitish underside and it is a predator of earthworms so is unwelcome on agricultural land. Common Name: Hedgehog Arion Scientific Name: Arion intermedius Body Colour: Creamy white, bluish yellow, olive or brown Size: It can grow to between 2.5cm and 3.5cm Habitat: This species lives in the leaf litter zone of humid deciduous forests and in areas near to water. Extra Information: The tentacles of this species are small and darkly coloured and its mucus is light yellow and it is known to eat mushrooms. The name hedgehog arion comes from the spiky warts that the slug displays when it is contracted. Common Name: Tree Slug Scientific Name: Limax marginatus Body Colour: Pale grey Size: It can grow up to 7cm in length Habitat: Is abundant on trees in woodland, hedgerows, walls and natural rocks. Extra Information: This species of slug is marked by two dark lines on both sides of the body and has a greyishwhite underside. Also the mucus of this species is colourless and watery and large amounts of this are produced especially when it is disturbed. Common Name: Yellow Slug Scientific Name: Limax flavus Body Colour: Marbled and mottled olive colour. The colouration of both juveniles and adults is similar. Size: It can grow up to 10cm in length Habitat: Most common and widespread in England, Wales and Ireland and are mostly associated with houses and gardens. They even sometimes venture into people’s homes, especially cellars after dark. Extra Information: This species of slug has blue tentacles and has a distinct yellow keel. It can cause major damage to agricultural land if present as it feeds on seedlings and vegetables. Invasive Species: Common Name: Spanish Slug Scientific Name: Arion vulgaris Body Colour: Red-Brown Size: 8cm-15cm when mature Habitat: This is a non native species of slug and it is now known to be an established species in the UK. Extra Information: These slugs have an extensive omnivorous diet that includes excrement, dead animals and a variety of crops that are not normally susceptible to slug feeding. They also produce twice as many eggs as slugs native to the UK and are able to tolerate hotter and dryer environments having adapted to living in the Mediterranean. They are also known to push out other slug and snail species to dominate an area due to their large size and high population density. Common Name: Spanish Stealth slug Scientific Name: Arion Flagellus Body Colour: Brown-Red Size: It can grow up to 10cm in length Habitat: First identified in the UK in 19451946 and is now widespread across the UK and is found in a great variety of habitats from upland acidic grassland, to lowland alder carr and now widely in gardens. Extra Information: This species has pale mucus which may be tinged yellow or green, and its underside is always pale but often tinged green. The young have a distinctive orange-yellow colour but with broad, dark lateral bands.