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Sticker of Green cellar slug
Bug card No. 2052 of 4,939

Green cellar slug

Limacus maculatus
Eats: Leftovers and dead thingsSnails, slugs and wormsHouses and farmsNo legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The green cellar slug is a big yellowish slug covered in darker blotches, with blue-grey feelers. It has no shell to hide in. It likes to live close to people, in cellars, gardens and farms.

Fun fact: this one is not an insect at all, it has no legs! But kids find it on every bug hunt, so it lives in Bug Wiki too.
Lives in
First from the Caucasus and the Black Sea coast, now also in Britain, Ireland and other parts of Europe
Length
13 cm (5.1 in)
Top speed
about 0.03 km/h (0.02 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Wash your hands after touching one, like after touching any wild animal.
What does it eat?
Cellar slugs like it nibble on rotting plants, mould and leftovers.
For real!Photo of Green cellar slug
Picture by Ágnes Turóci. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Green cellar slug about 13 cm long (5.1 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)A house cat about 50 cm (20 in)
as long as 4 toy building bricks in a rowabout as long as your handneeds 2 minutes to cross a dinner table

How big is Green cellar slug compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It can grow up to about 13 centimetres long, about as long as a big banana.

2

Babies are much darker than the grown-ups.

3

Its slime is yellow or has no colour at all.

4

In Britain it has become much more common in recent years and is pushing out its look-alike, the yellow slug.

you asked

Most asked questions about Green cellar slug

?Is the green cellar slug dangerous?

No. It is harmless, but wash your hands after touching it.

?Where do green cellar slugs live?

Near people, in cellars, gardens and farms, and in woods under logs.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Limacus maculatus
Group
Snails, slugs and worms
Family
Limacidae
Classification
Gastropoda > Stylommatophora > Limacidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia
Also known as
Irish yellow slug

Where the facts come from

  1. Limacus maculatus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Ágnes Turóci. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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Honey jarfor grown-ups