Gray Garden Slug

Abstract

The gray garden slug was introduced from Europe during the 1800s. It has become a common pest of vegetables, field crops, and ornamentals throughout the United States and Canada. It is a close relative of the marsh slug, Deroceras laeve (Muller), and shares many aspects of its biology. Gray garden slugs attack seedlings of a number of crops, particularly no-tillage corn and alfalfa, and strawberries. Large numbers of slugs can be found in a wet year when the preceding winter was mild.