| Spanish slug | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Arionidae |
| Genus: | Arion |
| Species: | A. vulgaris
|
| Binomial name | |
| Arion vulgaris Moquin-Tandon, 1855[2]
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Arion rufus var. vulgaris Moquin-Tandon, 1855 | |
The Spanish slug (Arion vulgaris, but formerly widely referred to as Arion lusitanicus owing to a misidentification) is an air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Arionidae, the roundback slugs. Other vernacular names are Lusitanian slug, Iberian slug, and killer slug.
It is a large, conspicuous slug, which has spread across much of Europe since the 1950s and now reached North America. It may attain high densities and be a serious horticultural and agricultural pest, and is considered an invasive species. The life cycle is annual, with adults appearing in summer and dying off before winter.
- ^ Rowson, B. (2017). "Arion vulgaris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T85541868A85580914. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T85541868A85580914.en. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ Moquin-Tandon A. (1855). Histoire naturelle des mollusques terrestres et fluviatiles de la France contenant des études générales sur leur anatomie et leur physiologie et la description particulière des genres, des espèces et des variétés. Tome second. pp. 1-646, atlas 1-92, Pl. I-LIV [= 1-54]. Paris. (Baillière).