Slug Information

1. Life Cycle of a Slug

2. A slug is a shell-less mollusc (spineless).
They have two pairs of retractable “feelers” or tentacles on their head.
The upper pair is for seeing and the lower pair is for smelling.
In the middle of the slug there is a hole which lets it breathe.
The bottom side of the slug is the foot. A slug moves by its muscle contracting. As it moves it
puts out mucus (slime) to protect its foot. This leaves a slime trail.
Slugs can get information from its slime trail.
Facts about slugs
seeing
smelling
foot
breathing hole

3. Slugs play an important role in the ecosystem by eating decaying plant material.
Some slugs are carnivorous and eat other dead slugs, snails or earthworms.
A slug has approximately 27,000 teeth.
There are over 200 different slug species but there is one that farmers do not like at all, the Grey
Field slug.
More facts about slugs

4. Life Cycle
Slugs have both male and female reproductive organs.
Slugs can lay 20-100 eggs several times a year.
They lay the eggs in a hole in the ground or under the
cover of an object like a fallen log.

5. Life Cycle continued…
Slug eggs can lay in the soil for years and then
hatch when conditions are right.
The time it takes for the eggs to hatch
depends on the temperature and moisture in
the ground.
In cold temperatures (0-5 degrees) it can take
up to 100 days for the eggs to develop.
At higher temperatures it usually takes
between 10 days to 3 weeks for the eggs to
hatch.

6. Life Cycle continued…
Slugs are active as soon as they hatch out of the egg.
They begin to crawl and feed immediately if the
temperature and humidity are right.
They are mainly nocturnal and remain still and hidden
until nightfall.

7. Life Cycle continued…
Slugs can grow between 0.5cm to 25cm, depending on the species.
A slug can live up to 6 years, females tend to live longer than
males.

8. The End
By Rylan Narayanan