I thought today would be one of my plants seen yesterday. This is because I’ve been laid low by a cold, one of those colds that doesn’t creep up on you but sprints full on and you can’t stop it no matter how prepared you are. Hopefully it will pass as quickly as it hit; really hard to concentrate with a full on cold!. However, I thought I’d keep to writing about daily sightings for now to help carry momentum for this blog so I have just been out into the garden to look for some of the most unloved creatures there are.
What: Iberian Threeband Slug Ambigolimax valentianus (A. Férussac, 1822)
When: 3rd January 2020. Record submitted to iRecord (will explain what this is in a later post)
Where: Milton Drive, Poynton, Cheshire, UK
Who saw it? Me
Is it larger than a blackbird? Definitely not. It’s a slug.
What is it? It’s a slug. Obviously. And a non-native to the UK one at that (as its name suggests). One with two parallel stripes along most of its body with a third on its saddle (the bit near the front of this slug that looks slightly raised) giving it part of the English name. Originally from Spain and has been accidentally introduced to the UK where it has spread modestly; has also ‘invaded’ other countries outside its native range (Rowson et al, 2014).
Fact I learned about this species: Gardeners hate slugs, definitely a known fact but not all of them eat plants, this one does however alongside breaking down waste. So useful and not useful to gardeners. And being a non-native species could out compete native species – but the evidence doesn’t exist to prove it with this particular species.
Is it charismatic? No. It’s a slug (in fairness some slugs around the world are charismatic, just not ones found in the island of Britain).
Ref: Rowson, B., Turner,J., Anderson, R., & Symondson, B. (2014) Slugs of Britain and Ireland FSC Publications, Telford
A Species a Day 