nchris@iastate.edu
July 28, 2015
Here is the latest blog by Dr. Donald Lewis, Entomology Extension, at Iowa State. It is in repsonse to Jim Woods of Woods Lawn Service in New Sharoin, Ia., who sent in the picture below.
Donald Lewis
Donald R. Lewis, Extension Entomologist
Department of Entomology
104 Insectary Building
Iowa State University, Ames IA 50011
Here are Don's thoughts on the subject:
Snails and Slugs in a Wet Year
A message from alert reader Jim Woods from Woods Lawn
Service in New Sharon prompted a review of what are slugs and snails and why
are there so many of them this year?
Slugs and snails are animals on a very large branch of the
Animal Kingdom family tree called Mollusca.
The best known molluscs are the clams, oysters, squids and octopuses. The closest relatives of snails are the clams
and oysters, called the gastropods. The
name gastropod literally translates from Greek to mean stomach-on-foot. The large fleshy foot that protrudes from the
shell of a snail or oyster and on which they crawl, also contains the mouth
opening.
Snails and slugs are very nearly the same thing! The easy distinction is that slugs are snails
without the shell.
The few molluscs and gastropods that have evolved to live on
land rather than in the water still require a lot of water to thrive. They are active at night when humidity is
higher and spend the daytime hidden in damp locations such as under mulch, leaf
litter and debris on the ground (an exception being cloudy, rainy and humid
days).
Snails and slugs do best in damp environments. That's why slugs are such a pest of hostas
because hostas grow in a garden that is shaded and holds the moisture
longer. http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2009/7-15/slugs.html
Slugs and snails also do well in rainy summers like this one. During drought years they almost disappear
from sight. Prolonged periods of wet
weather, however, have the opposite affect and numbers become noticeable.
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