# Garden Arion (*arion hortensis*)

The Garden Arion is a large, slimy slug that loves to munch on leaves in gardens. It helps break down plant material and enrich the soil, making it a garden superhero!

- **Category:** [Invertebrate](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/invertebrate)
- **Rarity:** Common
- **Danger:** 0/5 · No known danger
- **Habitat:** Moist gardens, woodlands, and grassy areas.
- **Also known as:** Brown Slug, Common Garden Slug, European Garden Slug

![Garden Arion](https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Redirect/file/Arion_hortensis.jpg&width=800)

Photo: MonkeySimon, CC BY 2.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arion_hortensis.jpg)

## Appearance

The Garden Arion is a sleek slug, typically dark brown or greyish-black, with distinctive bright yellow-orange stripes running along its sides. It has two pairs of retractable tentacles, which it uses to sense its surroundings.

## Taxonomy

- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Mollusca
- **Class:** Gastropoda
- **Order:** Stylommatophora
- **Family:** Arionidae
- **Genus:** Arion

## Interesting facts

- A Garden Arion can squeeze through unbelievably small cracks to hide.
- These amazing slugs are hermaphrodites, having both male and female parts!
- They have thousands of tiny teeth on a ribbon-like tongue called a radula.
- This slug breathes through a tiny hole on its right side called a pneumostome!

## Special abilities

- **Slime Navigator:** Garden Arion can leave a sticky slime trail that helps them glide over surfaces and find their way back using chemical cues.
- **Underground Burrower:** Garden Arion can dig into loose soil to escape predators, intense heat, or dry conditions, staying hidden and safe.
- **Super Sniffer Tentacles:** Garden Arion has sensitive tentacles that help them 'sniff' out tasty food and even sense danger nearby.

## Measurements & details

- **Length:** 2.5-4 cm
- **Weight:** 0.5-2 g
- **Lifespan:** 1-2 years

## Diet & Feeding

Garden Arions munch on decaying plant matter, fungi, and sometimes fresh garden greens.

- **Primary Foods:** decaying leaves, fungi, moss, young plant shoots, algae
- **Foraging Method:** Foraging

## Ecological connections

- **Eaten by:** Blackbird (*Turdus merula*) — slugs are a food source
- **Eaten by:** Hedgehog (*Erinaceus europaeus*) — nocturnal predator
- **Eaten by:** [Ground Beetle](https://www.snappit.app/explore/ground-beetle) (*Carabus nemoralis*) — juveniles consumed
- **Eats:** [Lettuce](https://www.snappit.app/explore/lettuce) (*Lactuca sativa*) — eats leaves and seedlings

## Traits

- [Solitary](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/solitary): Solitary animals live alone for most of their lives, only interacting with others for mating or parental care.
- [Camouflaged](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/camouflaged): Camouflaged describes organisms that possess coloring or patterns that allow them to blend into their environment.
- [Herbivorous](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/herbivorous): This trait characterizes organisms whose diet consists entirely or primarily of plant material.
- [Decomposer](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/decomposer): Describes organisms that break down dead organic material, recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem.
- [Nocturnal](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/nocturnal): Nocturnal animals are primarily active during the nighttime hours, typically resting or sleeping during the day.

## Collections

- [Invertebrates](https://www.snappit.app/explore/collections/invertebrates)

## Safety

**Danger:** 0/5 · No known danger

No special safety notes yet.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How to identify Garden Arion?

Compare body symmetry, shells, segments, legs, tentacles and how the animal moves. Invertebrates span many unrelated groups, so start with body structure. Invertebrate Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

### How long is Garden Arion?

2.5-4 cm

### How much does Garden Arion weigh?

0.5-2 g

### How long does Garden Arion live?

1-2 years

### What does Garden Arion eat?

Garden Arions munch on decaying plant matter, fungi, and sometimes fresh garden greens.

### Where is Garden Arion usually found?

Moist gardens, woodlands, and grassy areas.

### How does Garden Arion hunt?

Foraging

## Where to spot

- [Highbridge Park](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/highbridge-park) — New York, US · Park

## More Invertebrate

- [Coral](https://www.snappit.app/explore/coral)
- [Crab Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/crab-spider) (*Mecaphesa asperata*)
- [Garden Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/garden-spider) (*Araneus diadematus*)
- [Brown Recluse Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/brown-recluse-spider) (*Loxosceles reclusa*)

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Source: [Garden Arion: Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/garden-arion)