SNAILS AND SLUGS

Banana Slugs, Ariolimax spp.

Class: Gastropoda (Snails and Slugs)

Size: Up to 10"

Habitat: Moist forests

Range: Pacific states, California to Alaska

The banana slug is the largest slug in North America, with three species represented along the humid forests of the Pacific Northwest and California. They are conspicuous by their size and their bright yellow coloring, although they are occasionally brown, whitish, or spotted. As a group, the slugs are snails without shells (or with small remnants of a shell) that have a long, muscular foot for locomotion, two sets of antennae, and a hole on the right side of the body for respiration. The slime on the exterior acts as protection from desiccation and as a deterrent to predators. Banana slugs feed on dead leaves and other plant matter, fungi, and feces with rasping mouthparts. They are hermaphrodites, meaning that each slug possesses both male and female reproductive organs, although two slugs usually come together to mate, after which eggs are laid in leaf litter. The Pacific Banana Slug is illustrated.