Slug

Description:

Like other pulmonate land gastropods, the majority of land slugs have two pairs of 'feelers' or tentacles on their head. The upper pair is light sensingand has eyespots at the ends, while the lower pair provides the sense of smell. Both pairs are retractable and can be regrown if lost.[citation needed] On top of the slug, behind the head, is the saddle-shaped mantle, and under this are the genital opening and anus. On one side (almost always the right hand side) of the mantle is a respiratoryopening, which is easy to see when open, but difficult to see when closed. This opening is known as the pneumostome. Within the tissue of the mantle in some species is a very small, rather flat shell, or in some other cases a collection of calcareous granules.[citation needed] Like most gastropods, a slug moves by rhythmic waves of muscular contractionon the underside of its foot. It simultaneously secretes a layer of mucus that it travels on, which helps prevent damage to the foot tissues.[3]Around the edge of the foot in some taxa is a structure called the 'foot fringe'.

Habitat:

They prefer moist habitats and locations where they can escape the sun. They feed at night or on dark, overcast days. Slugs lay their translucent eggs under plant debris or in the soil, where the moist conditions provide for optimum development of eggs and young. Continuous straw mulch in a strawberry patch provides such an ideal habitat. Slugs seek out straw mulch and other types of mulch to lay their eggs in the fall and these eggs will hatch in the following spring with the slugs feeding on strawberries in the spring and early summer.