{"id":39737,"date":"2024-07-03T12:22:52","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T10:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/0e416eeb-af5d-4d4b-8afa-65f3ca69b36e"},"modified":"2024-07-03T14:28:42","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T12:28:42","slug":"how-do-slugs-mate-a-guide-to-slimy-slug-sex","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/how-do-slugs-mate-a-guide-to-slimy-slug-sex\/","title":{"rendered":"How do slugs mate? A guide to slimy slug sex"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just how do slugs mate? Tony Cook explains slug sex <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 03 July 2024 at 10:22 AM<\/p>

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Courtship in any animal has two functions \u2013 to ensure that mating takes place with a member of the same species, and to select the finest possible partner. So courtship involves species level identification and tests of vigour. <\/p>

How do slugs mate?<\/h2>
<\/div><\/figure><p class=\"p2\">The mating ritual of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/how-to\/identify-wildlife\/how-to-identify-slugs-and-snails\/\">slugs<\/a><\/strong> may appear bizarre, but it has evolved to fulfil both of these functions. Slugs are hermaphrodites. During intercourse, each suitor simultaneously delivers a packet of sperm to its partner\u2019s storage organ. To do this, they evert parts of their genitalia and lock them together.<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-group highlight-box is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-groupinner-container\"><h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-more-fascinating-slug-facts\">More fascinating slug facts<\/h4><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/insects-invertebrates\/do-slugs-freeze-in-winter\/\">Do slugs freeze in winter?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/insects-invertebrates\/why-we-should-love-slugs\/\">Why we should love slugs<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><p class=\"p2\">In slugs, identification of suitable mates is first by smell, second by courtship behaviour and third by the unique interlocking devices developed by each species. The leopard slug Limax maximus and its close relatives copulate while suspended from a mucus pad.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embedwrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Leopard Slugs mating\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ST_AEmm3GmI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure><p class=\"p2\">This behaviour is one of the ways that slugs can ensure that they are mating with members of the same species. In addition, such exertions and the production of a lot of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/mucus-and-slime-explained\">mucus<\/a> ensure that intercourse only takes place between individuals at the peak of their physical condition.<\/p><div class=\"wp-block-group highlight-box is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\"><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/reptiles\/how-do-snakes-mate\/\">How do snakes mate?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/how-do-birds-mate-bird-sex\">How do birds mate? A guide to bird sex<\/a><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/news\/how-male-rock-hyraxes-woo-their-potential-mates\/\">How male rock hyraxes woo their potential mates<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/can-any-animals-mate-with-two-partners-at-once\/\">Can any animals mate with two partners at once?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/uncategorized\/understand-mating-damselfly-behaviour\/\"> How do damselflies mate?<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just how do slugs mate? Tony Cook explains slug sex <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":39738,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/07\/how-do-slugs-mate-a-guide-to-slimy-slug-sex-scaled.jpg",1689,2560,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/07\/how-do-slugs-mate-a-guide-to-slimy-slug-sex-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/07\/how-do-slugs-mate-a-guide-to-slimy-slug-sex-198x300.jpg",198,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/07\/how-do-slugs-mate-a-guide-to-slimy-slug-sex-768x1164.jpg",768,1164,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/07\/how-do-slugs-mate-a-guide-to-slimy-slug-sex-676x1024.jpg",676,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/07\/how-do-slugs-mate-a-guide-to-slimy-slug-sex-1014x1536.jpg",1014,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/07\/how-do-slugs-mate-a-guide-to-slimy-slug-sex-1351x2048.jpg",1351,2048,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Just how do slugs mate? Tony Cook explains slug sex","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/39737"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}