Slug Love

From Wikipedia: Limax maximus (literally, "great slug"), also known by common names such as the great grey slug, or the leopard slug, is one of the largest kinds of keeled air-breathing land slug in the world, (Limax cinereoniger being the largest). It is in the family Limacidae, the keeled slugs.

I will photograph just about anything and this post definitely shows this truth. As an avid gardener, my brain says I should get rid of these foul beasts. The naturalist and photographer in me says otherwise. So here I am at a quarter until 1 in the morning photographing tiger slug courtship. Talk about a wild nightlife.






The Chase is On

The mating habits of Limax maximus are considered unusual among slugs: the hermaphrodite slugs court, usually for hours, by circling and licking each other. After this, the slugs will climb into a tree or other high area and then, entwined together, lower themselves on a thick string of mucus, evert their white translucent mating organs (penises) from their gonopores (openings on the right side of the head), entwine these organs, and exchange sperm. Both participants will later lay hundreds of eggs.



While I find the topic of slug mating quite interesting I am not staying up several hours just to photograph the actual deed. There are photos on the Wiki page though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limax_maximus

For a lovely blog post extolling slug love, try this one:

http://keeperofthesnails.blogspot.com/2006/04/tiger-slug.html

~Jessica~