1 Juty, 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 65 
DESTRUCTIVE HABITS. 
It is only of late years also that the fact of their being addicted to feeding 
upon garden plants has been a subject of complaint.* Even up to date no 
special depredations occasioned by them in the Botanical Gardens, where they 
have been so long established, have been brought under notice, although the 
writer has seen there Mesembryanthemum plants partly consumed by them. 
W. French, whose duties as propagator there should afford special opportunity for 
observing any destructive propensity that the slugs might manifest, has not been 
heard to regard their presence there with much concern, although for some time 
past it has been found necessary to protect young “annuals” from their attacks, 
That they may, however, prove very destructive to certain plants has now been 
definitely established. 
The first instance of their depredations was afforded by an observation 
made by J. C. Boyd, of the Immigration Office, who, in 1893, remarked 
their presence upon the leaves of cabbage grown in the grounds attached to 
the offices of the Department of Agriculttre, and further noticed that they 
made large holes therein as they fed upon their tissue. This discovery has 
since been confirmed abundantly by others. Thus M. B. Bernays states gene- 
rally they partake of “tender plants of all descriptions, be they vegetables or 
flowers ; also, that they eat cauliflowers, cabbages, turnips, broad beans, 
lettuces amongst esculents; and stocks, cinerarias, dianthus, &c., amongst orna- 
mental plants. Asparagus they eschew, even the tender shoots of fancy 
varieties being avoided.” To this list may be added, on the authority of another 
observer, carrots, eschalots, tomatoes, and young dahlias. Newly planted Coleus 
cuttings they will again wholly consume. Indeed, so emphatically has this 
destructive habit been displayed, that a correspondent who has experienced their 
depredations has been led to anticipate that ‘if they are not stopped in their 
ravages they will soon—z.e., in a few years—become quite as much of a curse 
in the vegetable garden as is the Fruit Fly (Lephritis) in the orchard.” It is 
generally in their early stages of growth that plants subject to these attacks are 
injured; and this is sometimes exclusively the case. In addition to the kinds 
above mentioned they also reject many others, e.g., the pea, and fortunately do 
not attack the ordinary grasses. On the other hand they consume some of our. 
weeds, ¢.9., Fat Hen (Chenopodium). Hence the lessening degree to. which 
this plant is to be remarked as present in our local waste places. 
J. C. Boyd, who, as already remarked, was the first in Queensland to bring 
under notice the destructive propensities of Vaginula Slugs, states that they are 
very partial to the ripe fruit of the tomato, climbing up the plants themselves to 
gain access to it; that they will even gnaw through the hard rind of the under 
surface of pumpkins, when these are lying on the ground, and thus determine 
the invasion of a special form of rot that originates at the site of ‘injury ; that 
they are especially addicted to attacking cabbages, cutting down the young 
plants, and eating holes (v¢de Plate) in the under leaves of older ones; that they 
are very destructive to French beans; that other vegetable garden plants, also, 
they may partake of, especially when these are quite young. Parsley heads they 
do not seem to affect, though they will eat mint. Strawberry plants, again, 
remain comparatively untouched, only the tips of the young shoots being at 
times injured. 
DESCRIPTION. 
The following general description, supplemented by a study of the accom- 
panying plate, whereon are depicted life-size photographie representations of 
the slugs themselves, will aid in their recognition :— . 
They are elongate-oblong in outline, their length and breadth being as 8 to 5 
when non-extended and at rest, whereas they are four times as long as broad, or 
even relatively longer, when stretched out as they are when crawling. They are 
*Although the species of Vaginula are of such numerous occurrence within the tropics, the 
writer can only recall a single instance of destructive habits being attributed to them. Thus Dr. 
. Fischer writes :—‘‘ Ils ravagent les plantations de café, de tabac, ainsi que les jardins potagers.’ 
—-Manuel de Conchylioloque, p. 493 (1887). 
