![]() ![]() The long mucus trapeze could be an example of sexual evolution going into overdrive to signify commitment to what’s to come, making sure that any mating efforts won’t be wasted. It might be that that communication and cooperation are important aspects of sexual behaviour in the mollusc world, beginning with the head-to-tail trail-following. The rest of their elaborate mating behaviour is less well understood. This asymmetry makes leopard slugs turn anti-clockwise in synchrony during courting and mating – and is also what made rare left-coiling snail Jeremy a media sensation in his/her search for love. This is most obvious during mating, when the genitals emerge from the right side of the head. Just like human hearts are nearly always to the left hand side in our bodies, a slug’s body is also asymmetric. We also know why leopard slugs turn anti-clockwise when mating. They can have the best of both worlds by choosing to eat and digest most of the sperm, while retaining just enough to fertilise their eggs. They can also store sperm for months and even years, and so don’t always need to receive sperm if they have previously mated with a better partner. This is likely because natural selection favours mating with another individual to avoid the loss of health, fertility and fitness associated with inbreeding.Įven though they can choose whether to mate as male or female, most slugs and snails mate as male and female at the same time. Yet, self-fertilisation is generally not the preferred option. It’s well known that leopard slugs, like the majority of land-based snails and slugs, are hermaphrodites – meaning that both sexual organs are contained in the same individual. Fortunately for our curiosity, there are a few noble individuals who have taken time to understand the mating habits of snails and slugs, and whose research can give us some valuable clues. This is because slug sex science has rarely attracted anything other than observational study. But while their carnal dance has mesmerised millions, nobody knows why they mate in this most bizarre way. The astonishing sex lives of leopard slugs, or Limax maximus, have long been recognised by naturalists and frequently feature in wildlife documentaries. Eventually, one slug crawls off and the other follows, eating the mucus trapeze as it goes. They lower themselves on a mucus rope, while entwining their bodies in a strictly anti-clockwise fashion.īoth slugs then push out and entwine two overly-sized penises from openings on the side of their head, before exchanging sperm that may later fertilise each of their eggs. Under the cover of night, two large leopard slugs begin to court, circling each other, before climbing single-file up a tree or onto a rock. ![]()
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