How to keep a slug at home

(
slug
) is a commonly used name for a number of gastropod mollusks that, in the course of evolutionary development, have undergone a reduction or complete loss of shell.
Slugs are contrasted with gastropods with well-developed shells ( snails
).
The slug form independently arose in several groups of aquatic and terrestrial gastropods, so the totality of all species is considered not as a taxon, but as an ecological form
. Sometimes slugs that have retained a rudimentary shell are called semislugs (English: semislug).

It is assumed that the reduction and subsequent loss of the shell had environmental prerequisites and occurred, for example, during the transition to living in dense thickets of aquatic plants or forest litter. According to another hypothesis, the cause was a deficiency of calcium necessary for the construction of shells in the regions where the groups in which the slug form arose were formed. An important consequence of poor development or absence of a shell is the inability to isolate itself from the environment when attacked by a predator or the onset of unfavorable (for example, drought) conditions.

Some terrestrial slugs are pests that can cause serious damage to agriculture.

Ground slugs [edit | edit code ]

Most land slugs belong to the group of pulmonate snails ( Stylommatophora

), among which, however, there are quite a lot of species with a developed shell (
snails
).
It is necessary to distinguish between slugs as an ecological group, a life form of gastropods without a distinct shell, and representatives of the slug family Limacidae
, a strict biotaxonomic unit.

Building [edit | edit code ]

The body of land slugs is quite elongated in length, but is capable of changing shape due to muscle contractions. Externally, slugs have bilateral symmetry. It is disrupted only by the unpaired pulmonary foramen located on the right. The skin epithelium secretes a large amount of mucus, which prevents the skin from drying out, promotes better gliding over the surface, and also repels predators.

Like other gastropods, the body of slugs is divided into three sections: the head

,
leg
and
visceral mass
.
The latter, due to the absence of a shell, does not form an internal sac
, but
a notum
(lat. notum - back).
On the head there are contractile tentacles (one or two pairs), on which sensory organs are located (developed eyes, organs of tactile and chemical senses). Behind the head on the dorsal side is a mantle with an unpaired pulmonary opening ( pneumostome
) leading into the mantle cavity, which functions as a lung. The anus is located next to the pneumostomy.

Fighting slugs in the basement

Radical methods of getting rid of gastropods include a sulfur smoke bomb. It is guaranteed to kill not only the gastropods themselves, but also their larvae. Pest control in the cellar using a checker is also a preventive measure. It is important to strictly follow the instructions:

1. Remove all food items from the premises, even if they are stored packaged.
2. Carefully seal all holes to prevent smoke from escaping.
3. Wet all surfaces generously with water. Important: metal objects must be removed. If this is not possible, they must be treated with grease or painted to prevent corrosion. Sulfur smoke, reacting with moisture, forms an acid that is very harmful to metal.
4. Wear gloves, mask, goggles.
5. Place sulfur bombs inside the cellar. The quantity depends on the area of ​​the room, 6-8 square meters. m. you will need 4 pieces. Important: checkers must be placed on a fire-resistant surface. Often special stands are sold as a set.
6. Light the wick using soft paper. Please note: the optimal indoor air temperature is 0 degrees. The warmer it is, the worse the sulfur will be better absorbed by the surface.
7. Close the exit tightly. Smoldering lasts 0.5-1.5 hours. Do not open the basement for three days. Important: it is prohibited to use a saber in residential multi-storey buildings, because the volatile properties of the smoke are high. He is able to climb several floors. You must leave your private home during processing.
8. Open all windows, doors, ventilate the cellar for a day.
9. Collect dead pests and carry out wet cleaning.

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For preventive purposes, it is recommended to carry out the following measures that will get rid of not only slugs, but also other parasites:

• periodic cleaning of the basement;
• regular drying and ventilation;
• Before placing food in the basement, you need to dry it well;
• calcareous pollination;
• treat surfaces with copper sulfate solution.

Sense organs [ edit | edit code ]

Like snails, most of the slugs' sensory receptors are concentrated around the head. Nerve nodes, or ganglia, process information received by two pairs of tentacles. The lower, shorter pair are sensory tentacles that are used as an organ of smell, touch and possibly taste. The upper, longer pair are the tentacles of vision (or optical tentacles), sensitive to light and odors. Although slugs cannot distinguish colors, they can easily distinguish light from dark.

Slugs have 100 - 5000 photosensitive cells, each surrounded by many pigment cells. There are a large number of microvilli on the surface of photosensitive cells. It is believed that these are the light-sensitive areas of these cells. The lobes of the mouth can act as an organ of touch, distinguishing between different surfaces. When a slug loses one of its tentacles, it grows back. For example, in representatives of the species Arion ater

it takes 1-2 months.

From the head, nerves run along the entire body, both to the leg to control movement and to the digestive system.

Slime [edit | edit code ]

Slugs produce two types of mucus: one that is thin and watery, and one that is thick and sticky. Both are hygroscopic. Liquid mucus spreads from the center of the leg to the edges. Thick mucus unfolds from front to back.

Mucus is very important to slugs because it helps them move and contains fibers that prevent them from sliding down vertical surfaces. The mucus also provides protection from predators and helps retain moisture. Some species use mucus cords to prostrate themselves on the ground or temporarily suspend themselves during mating.

How to deal with slugs in the garden using mechanical methods

If you don’t want to use toxic chemicals right away, start with simple control methods. Despite their simplicity, they give good results.

1. Manual collection

Particularly effective in the morning. All favorite places where pests reside are inspected, and individuals are collected by hand. More often they live in damp, dark corners, on metal or wooden surfaces. These are the lower part of the porches, hoses and taps for watering, steel watering cans or buckets. Snails like to gather in the shade of plants: inside a strawberry rosette, under cabbage leaves. The collected gastropods are destroyed.

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Baits and homemade traps

Hand picking is tedious and time consuming. To speed it up, they set traps and lay out bait. This makes it possible to collect several individuals in one place at once. We offer several options for traps that will help get rid of slugs.

• Gastropods like the smell of beer. It is poured little by little into plastic bottles with the neck cut off. The dishes are dug into the ground, leaving the cuts free. You can place such a bottle sideways on the ground. In both cases, the slugs will get inside and will not be able to get out.
• The soil under the future trap should remain dry for 4-5 days. In the evening, cardboard soaked in water, a board, slate, a rag or cabbage leaves are placed on it. Instead of water, you can take beer or kefir. In the morning, they raise the trap and collect the pests.
• Bait with corn works well. A little grain or flour from this crop is poured into a jar and dug into the ground, or laid on its side.
• Pests love all citrus and melon crops. Their crusts make good traps. A hole is cut out in the rind removed from half the fruit. Lay it cut side down on the ground. After some time, the gastropods are raised and collected.

All of these traps work well. They are used not only in the vegetable garden or garden, but also to combat slugs in the greenhouse.

Reproduction [edit | edit code ]

Terrestrial slugs are characterized by hermaphroditism (sometimes sequential) and cross internal fertilization.

Slugs have both female and male reproductive organs. Typically, a slug will follow the mucus of another slug, and may even eat that mucus. Then the slugs find each other and begin to circle together. At the same time, they release their genitals. The slugs move close to each other and their genitals touch the partner. Sperm is transported in the form of a spermatophore. After a few days, the slug lays about 30 eggs in a hole in the ground. Some species overwinter underground in temperate climates; in other species, adults die in the fall.

A common practice among many slugs is apophalation, where one or both slugs bite off part of the penis. The penis of these species is twisted like a corkscrew and often becomes entangled in the partner's genitals during the exchange of sperm. Apophalation allows the slugs to separate. It is believed that damaged genitals grow back like "tentacles of vision."

How to get rid of slugs in the house and basement: 100% slug removal

Have you noticed sticky tracks left by slugs on the walls of your home? They cause irreparable damage to the economy.

Even one look at them can cause disgust. And the question arises: how to deal with slugs in the house?

This article will give advice on what to do and how to remove pests.

Who are slugs? Where do they come from?

In order to increase your chances in this fight, you need to know the enemy by sight. Slugs belong to the class of gastropods. Outwardly, they are similar to snails, but they do not have a so-called house on their back. They have four horn-like projections on their heads.

Slugs feed at night and sleep during the day. They eat vegetables, fruits, and young vegetation. The ideal place for them is a dark room with an air temperature of about 14-17 degrees Celsius. In search of such a place, slugs climb into houses and basements.

Due to the body's insufficient adaptations to prevent dehydration, slugs live in cool and damp places. For this reason, they most often live in the basement.

Representatives of this type of mollusk are hermaphrodites, that is, they have female and male genital organs. When they meet a partner, they impregnate each other.

Round slug eggs are laid in the soil. At one time he can lay down from 10 to 35 pieces. After 3-4 weeks, a young slug appears, and after a month and a half it becomes sexually mature.

There are many tips on how to eliminate pests. To do this, use products based on copper sulfate or metaldegin. But they are strictly prohibited for use in residential premises and basements . To get rid of pests in these places, it is better to use folk remedies.

Folk ways to fight slugs

So, in the question of how to get rid of slugs in the house and basement, folk remedies will help us:

• Salt;
• Mustard powder;
• Vinegar;
• Ground coffee;
• Ammonia.

They should be scattered in places where traces of slugs were found.

Many people also know that slugs are big fans of the smell of beer . This way you can make a trap. To do this, you need to moisten a rag with beer and place it on a plastic bag in the place where slugs most often appear. Then all that remains is to throw them away.

This method includes various cellar fumigations. But this method is not safe . If you still decide to use it, you should adhere to safety rules. Before carrying out this method, it is necessary to remove all preserved food and food from the basement.

You can use a sulfur bomb. It must be placed on a sheet of iron and set on fire. Remember to follow the directions for use to prevent sulfur poisoning .

Next, the room must be left for three days. You can bring the preserved food back only after good ventilation, and the brought vegetables must be carefully checked for the presence of slugs .

Gentle methods

The essence of the methods is to partially dust the room; this is less dangerous. But it is only suitable for those basements in which the slug invasion has just begun .

To do this, use a mixture of chalk with wood ash or bleach.

Before carrying out, you should remove all equipment and products from the basement and close all cracks . Then you need to thoroughly dust it. The slugs immediately curl up and die , and all you have to do is throw them away. Next you need to whitewash the walls, ceiling and floor with lime. Dry and ventilate the cellar. After this, you can safely bring in the preserves.

To prevent the appearance of slugs in the basement, you need to ventilate the room, prevent increased humidity, and also use lime pollination. This will help you get rid of shellfish for good.

Damage from slugs in the home and household

Everyone knows that slugs harm the farm. Settling in greenhouses, they destroy plants and eat root crops in storage facilities.

A bird that eats a slug gets sick, and livestock gets sick by eating the foliage on which the slug crawled.

In addition, they are distributors of fungal, bacterial and viral diseases of agricultural crops . And also, by eating the fruits, they spoil their presentation.

Source: https://vreditel.net/nasekomye/slizni/kak-izbavitsya-ot-sliznej-v-dome-i-podvale.html

Who are slugs and where do they come from?

Slugs are representatives of the class of gastropods. They look very similar to snails, but there is no house on their back. On the head of the mollusk there are four processes resembling horns. Slugs eat fruits and vegetables, as well as other vegetation. Slugs in the area choose places with a temperature of about 14-17 degrees.

Interesting! Mollusks live in cool and humid places. Most often this place becomes the cellar.

Representatives of this species of gastropod are hermaphrodites, which means that these individuals have both male and female genital organs. Occasionally, when meeting a partner, they impregnate each other. Round eggs are laid in the ground. One individual can lay from 10 to 40 eggs at a time, and after 3-4 weeks a newcomer is born.

Who are slugs: description, photos, varieties, systematic position

Slugs, or slugs, are gastropods whose shells were simplified or lost during evolution. These insects have an elongated, slightly flattened body that changes shape due to muscle contractions.

Depending on the type, their length ranges from a few millimeters to 2 tens of centimeters. The body of the gastropod is sandy, brown, grayish, brownish in color, sometimes with small white and black dots.

It consists of:

• a rising head with 4 long tentacles on which eyes, olfactory and shortened lip receptors are located, performing the function of touch and taste recognition;
• a torso with a mantle on the back, inside of which there is a lung, and on the side to the right there is a respiratory opening and an anal opening located nearby;
• legs - the lower part of the body on which its owner moves.

What is the harm from slugs?

• The greatest damage to garden and vegetable crops occurs at night.
• Plant crops act as food.
• In damaged areas, the process of photosynthesis is disrupted, which can cause the garden plant to die.
• Mollusks carry spores of harmful fungi on their bodies.
• Slugs act as hosts for helminths (parasitic worms), which infect domestic animals and sometimes people.
• If an infected individual is pecked by a chicken, it becomes infected with the pressure tapeworm.
  If symptoms are not noticed immediately, the disease can be fatal.

Fighting gastropods in the country or in the garden

Slugs in the garden are perhaps one of the most common problems, which are quite difficult to get rid of. The creatures appear in a greenhouse, garden or vegetable garden because a large amount of food is concentrated there, which they mercilessly spoil. The garden slug hides in places of high humidity: under bricks, boards, rags, wide leaves of plants, among cabbage leaves.

The following methods will help you get rid of slugs forever:

• Find a glass jar and place it on its side in the garden. Add a couple of tablespoons of corn flour into it. Leave the bait in the place where you have already seen shellfish, and in the morning you will see many corpses on the ground around it. The thing is that their stomach cannot digest cornmeal, and, having tried it, the pest dies without having time to crawl away.

• Another effective slug repellent: Fill several plastic cups halfway with beer. Dig these traps so that the necks are level with the surface of the ground. Pests will crawl to the smell and drown in traps. Your task is only to catch the “catch” regularly.

• The fight against slugs in the garden is subject to ammonia diluted with water in proportions of 1/5. Pour the resulting solution into a spray bottle and spray those plants that most often suffer from pest attacks. This technique does not kill slugs, but scares them away. Shellfish hate the smell of ammonia, so they won't go near plants.

• An excellent remedy against these creatures is eggshells, shells and coarse salt finely crushed over the beds. It is the lower part of the pest that is very delicate and reacts sharply to damage from such objects.

Important! The disadvantage of this method is that spilled salt can dry out the soil.