Slug Ecology Lab

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This datasheet provided information on common slugs. It went into short detail about slugs’ dietary needs and how this can be damaging to plants kept in the yard. It also discussed slugs’ basic activity patterns and how they are drawn out at night and occasionally on rainy days. The main purpose of this sheet, however, was to provide information on how to maintain slug populations in your yard. The methods described included the elimination of shelter, using fermented materials as bait in a trap, producing barriers with abrasive materials, and using a variety of molluscicides. This sheet provided useful information on slug habitat.

Crawford-Sidebotham goal was to gather information on the activity of several species of slugs, Arion hortensis, Arion subfuscus, Arion lusitancius, and Milax budapestensis. The goal of the study was to determine whether or not temperature and vapor pressure deficit played a role in the activity of the slugs. The experimental method used was the catch per unit. The sampling was conducted at night in
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The experiment tested the slugs’ preferred temperature, moisture, and food preferences. The three slug species he observed were Arion circumscriptus, Deroceras reticulatum, and D. laeve. All experiments were conducted in the slugs’ natural habitat, over the same area for a year and a half. The experiments showed that each slug species had different behaviors and two had no moisture preferences. Third slug species, A. circumscriptus, preferred more moisture. Other experiments were conducted in a lab to determine the slugs’ ability to deal with the cold. It was found that D. laeve had the ability to freeze completely and survive unthawing, while the other two species died. This article was important because it showed that while the species vary slightly from one another, they are still prefer similar

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