BLACK SLUG

The Latin name for the Black slug is Arion ater.

This slug is a mollusc, related to the snail, but with the shell represented by an internal horny plate. It may reach up to 15cm in length. It is commonly black, but may be brown, grey or pale creamy-orange, with an orange skirt around the base of the body.

Slugs eat vegetation and often climb trees in search of food, then let themselves down by means of a mucous thread spun from a gland opening on the front edge of the single foot. They may do extensive damage to cultivated plants and are particularly damaging in greenhouses and market gardens.