Appearance
As all other "Deroceras" it has a short keel at the back of the body. "Deroceras reticulatum" is very variable in color, creamy or light coffee cream, rarely blackish spotted. Behind the mantle there is the dark spots form a reticulate pattern. The skin is thick. Mucus is colourless, on irritation milky white. The slug cannot be distinguished from many other "Deroceras" species based only on its external appearance.This slug can be up to 40-60 mm long. The size varies according to the habitat.
Reproductive system: Penis is fleshy and with a silky sheen, in the shape of an irregular sac, in fully mature specimens divided into 2 parts by a deep lateral constriction. Penial gland has very variable shape, usually a few branches or a single long branch. Stimulator is large, conical and narrow. Retractor of the penis is inserted laterally. Vas deferens opens into penis wall facing the external body side. Rectal caecum is large.
It can travel up to 40 feet in a single night.
Distribution
The native distribution of this slug species is Europe, North Africa and the Atlantic Islands.It is widely distributed in Europe, more rare and restricted to cultivated fields in the southeast, particularly in the Balkans, probably absent from Greece and Bulgarian mountains. In North and central European lowlands, Great Britain and Ireland it is probably the most widely occurring slug. In northern Scandinavia it is scarce, and is mainly found as a synanthrope.
It occurs in countries and islands including:
⤷ Great Britain
⤷ Ireland
⤷ Austria
⤷ Bulgaria
⤷ Czech Republic - least concern
⤷ Netherlands
⤷ Poland
⤷ Slovakia
⤷ Sweden
⤷ Latvia
The species has been widely introduced as a synanthrope to many regions:
⤷ North America, in parts of Northern Michigan and Southern Michigan
⤷ Colombia
⤷ Peru
⤷ Argentina - major slug pest in Buenos Aires province
⤷ Tasmania
⤷ New Zealand
⤷ central Asia
Behavior
Life cycle covers a few months, usually two generations. The main reproductive phase is in summer and autumn. It lays hundreds of eggs which hatch during early summer.Maximum age is about a year. Slugs die at the first frosts. Usually only eggs hibernate, sometimes also juveniles.
Habitat
"Deroceras reticulatum" is at present almost exclusively restricted to cultivated areas, usually in open habitats, in meadows, near roadsides, in ruins, gardens and parks, not inside forests. It shelters under stones and ground litter. It is active at night.
Food
This species is omnivorous, feeding mainly on fresh leaves and fruits or seedings. "Deroceras reticulatum" is a serious pest of agricultural crops, garden cultivations and horticulture. After several years with continuous moist weather conditions abundance can seriously increase.
Predators
Various carabid beetles are predators of "Deroceras reticlatum", including:⤷ the European garden beetle "Carabus nemoralis", is a beneficial predator as it eats the young of this species and also their eggs.
⤷ "Pterostichus melanarius"
⤷ "Pterostichus madidus"
⤷ "Nebria brevicollis"
⤷ "Scarites anthracinus" eats eggs and slugs in Argentina.
⤷ "Poecilus cupreus"
References:
Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.
