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Sticker of Hedgehog slug
Bug card No. 2213 of 4,939

Hedgehog slug

Arion intermedius
Name means: “named after the prickly little bumps on its back, which look like a hedgehog's spines”
Eats: PlantsSnails, slugs and wormsGardens and meadowsNo legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The hedgehog slug is a small slug with no shell. Its back is covered in tiny bumps with sharp, prickly tips, a bit like a mini hedgehog. It can be white, pale yellow or grey, and the bottom of its foot is yellow or orange.

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
Western and central Europe, and carried by people to the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa
Length
1.5 to 2 cm (0.59 to 0.79 in)
Top speed
about 0.01 km/h (0.01 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Wash your hands after touching it, like after touching any wild animal.
What does it eat?
It eats plants and also mushrooms and other fungi.
For real!Photo of Hedgehog slug
Picture by Jesse Rorabaugh. CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Hedgehog slug about 2 cm long (0.79 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
as long as 3 grains of rice in a rowneeds 6 minutes to cross a dinner table

How big is Hedgehog slug compared to YOU?

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

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

When it is scared, it pulls itself together into a little shape like a bell.

2

It can make babies all on its own, without a partner, or together with another slug.

3

It lives for only about one year. The slugs grow up in autumn, and the grown-ups die during the winter or early spring.

4

Because one slug alone can start a new family, it is good at moving into new places, even forests.

5

In New Zealand it is a pest in fields where clover grows.

you asked

Most asked questions about Hedgehog slug

?How big is the hedgehog slug?

A grown-up is about 1.5 to 2 centimetres long.

?Why is it called the hedgehog slug?

Because the little bumps on its back end in prickly points, like a hedgehog's spines.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Arion intermedius
Group
Snails, slugs and worms
Family
Arionidae
Classification
Gastropoda > Stylommatophora > Arionidae
Lives on
Europe, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania, Africa
Also known as
Hedgehog arion, Hedgehog arion slug

Where the facts come from

  1. Arion intermedius (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 Jesse Rorabaugh. CC0, 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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