How Can You Tell the Difference Between a Female and a Male Slug?
How Can You Tell the Difference Between a Female and a Male Slug? You can’t tell the difference between a male and female slug because slugs are part male and part female. All slugs produce eggs (like any female animal), and each one produces sperm (like any male). When two slugs mate, each puts its sperm into the others body. The sperm fertilizes the eggs so they can start growing.
A short time later, the slugs lay their transparent eggs on the undersides of leaves, sticks and stones. These hatch into tiny replicas of the parents. Some people consider slugs pests because they gobble up garden plants.
Like his cousin the snail, the slug has two sets of tentacles and a mantle. In addition to lacking a shell, he also has no visceral hump. Slugs range in size from a quarter of an inch long to 10 inches, depending on their age and variety. They vary in color from a light yellow to shades of gray and black and are often mottled with darker shades.
Like the snail, a slug propels itself forward by sending waves of small contractions from the back of its base toward the front. Slugs are especially sensitive to finding a damp spot to call home, as they don’t have the protection the snail’s shell provides.