Arion
ater (Linnaeus, 1758)
Picture: Arion
ater has pulled into a ball and is scared!
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SIZE: The body can reach
lengths up to about 6 inches!
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RANGE: They range in color from
black to orange, and are found in Europe and the Pacific Northwest.
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HABITAT: Arion ater likes
life on cool, moist land, especially well watered gardens.
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DIET: TheyŐll eat your lettuce
and strawberries, but they also eat fungi, decaying leaf, feces, and some
insects.
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LOOK-A-LIKES: The Arion ater
ranges in colors, the brownish-orange morphs are common in the PNW, whereas the
black morphs tend to stay in Europe. In the PNW there arenŐt any closely
colored slugs that can be mistaken for Arion aterŐs brown body and
bright orange marking.
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HISTORY: The Arion ater,
like all slugs likely evolved from primitive land snails. Their shells can
still be accounted for, but they lie under the back (mantle), near the head of
the slug.
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PREDATORS: Arion ater could
become dinner to frogs, mice, moles, shrews, toads, and some birds.
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LINKS:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.edu/site/accounts/information/Arion_ater.html
AND
http://www-biol.paisley.ac.uk/bioref/Animalia_inverts/Arion_ader.htm