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SNAIL AND SLUG PLAGUES CONTROL

     Snails and slugs are some legless mollusks; for their motion they use their own body, by succeeding waves of muscular contraction, like the worms; they belong to the class Gastropoda and have a coiled shell, in the case of snails , which serves as a refuge, and a sort of thick area on their back in the case of slugs. They are the most active during the night, when the earth is wet and the atmosphere is humid.

Snails use to go out to feed themselves at dusk or at dawn.

     In order to move, they produce a sort of a mucus or slime, which helps their locomotion by crawling on it; it is also a way of protection against injuries, bacteria, other insects like ants, and it is also a moisturiser which regulates the temperature. Snails and slugs breathe through lungs; they are hermaphrodites, which means they have sperm and ovaries; after mating and inseminating one another to internally fertilize their ova, they lay from 80 to 160 eggs in a nest, which is a small hole made in the floor, in a sheltered area dug with their tail, then they cover the eggs, preferably in spring and autumn time, in the rainy season. 15 days later, the eggs hatch. The young snails feed themselves and from 6 to 12 months later they are sexually mature.

Slugs have their body made of very robust and elastic muscles.

     These mollusks grow and develop in moisty environments. When the conditions are not favorable, snails took refuge inside their house which is their shell, producing a dry layer of mucus that isolates them from the exterior. During the winter they can be found under the earth, stones or waste piles.

The snails use the slime they segregate in order to move and as thermal regulator.

     Snails and slugs have a mouth with teeth, which is called radula; they leave a very distinctive mark on the plants leaves. They are voracious mollusks that feed on a great variety of plants, leaves and vegetables. During the day they hide, coming out mainly at night or during cloudy days and after rains or irrigation hours. Snails are more damaging than slugs, because snails prefer green leaves and slugs prefer the withered or fallen ones, they even eat animal waste, though slugs do not reject the young plant stems.

When the snail grows, its shell does, too.

     The damage produced by snails and slugs is similar to that produced by the caterpillars. One can notice their presence by the silver slime trace; when there is too much slime and too much damage, this is a sign of a snail plague. Although we can only find the smallest of the species, these ones are as voraceous as the adult ones, damaging a lot our plants or the new shoots.
 

If you want to read our other articles about the cockroaches, moths, slug and snails traps as well as some curiosities on these insects,

 click below.