# Meadow Slug

*Deroceras laeve*

This species is unusually hardy; it can survive being frozen solid in ice and remains active at temperatures near freezing.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Mollusca › Gastropoda › Stylommatophora › Agriolimacidae › Deroceras
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** wetland
- **Habitat:** Marshes, wet meadows, riverbanks, and damp gardens.
- **Diet:** Decaying vegetation, fungi, algae, and tender seedlings.
- **Range:** North America, Europe, Asia, South America
- **Size:** 1.5 to 2.5 cm in length
- **Lifespan:** Under 1 year
- **Active:** nocturnal
- **Threats:** Habitat dehydration, molluscicides (slug pellets), and heavy agricultural tilling.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless to humans. Avoid handling with dry hands to protect its moisture; do not use salt as it is lethal. Wash hands after contact as slugs can carry parasites like lungworm.

## About

Deroceras laeve , the marsh slug , is a species of small air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Agriolimacidae.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/5ff14f5e-0f98-47ff-8930-0be18a1f92aa
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/209624
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deroceras laeve
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/179207016/medium.jpeg (no rights reserved, CC0, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.