orange-banded arion

(Arion fasciatus)

Conservation Status
orange-banded arion
Photo by Alfredo Colon
  IUCN Red List

LC - Least Concern

 
  NatureServe

NNA - No Status Rank

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Orange-banded arion is a common, exotic, terrestrial, round back slug. It is native to northern Europe and was introduced into North America during the colonial era. It has slowly spread from New England north to Quebec, south to North Carolina, and west to Minnesota. It is listed as invasive in Wisconsin, where it has been present since 1948, but not in Minnesota and not nationally. It is found in ground litter and on herbaceous plants in forests, wet meadows adjacent to streams, and open and cultivated areas, including old fields and gardens.

The adult is 1¼ to 2 long and grayish to yellowish-brown above. It has no shell. The body is long and slender when extended, short and bell-shaped when contracted. It is covered with rows of pale bumps (tubercles), giving it a granular appearance. The row of tubercles in the middle (middorsal) are slightly enlarged, giving the false impression of a keel, but this species is not keeled. There are two lateral, dark, blurry, longitudinal stripes. The stripes are broken at the edge of the back plate (mantle). The area just below each stripe is yellowish, and the area below that, near the foot fringe, is whitish. The sole is grayish-white. The mucus it emits is colorless. The head and tentacles are black.

Juveniles have more well-defined lateral stripes and the middorsal tubercles give the appearance of a more prominent dorsal ridge.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Total length: 1¼ to 2

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Forests, wet meadows adjacent to streams, and open and cultivated areas, including old fields and gardens

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Season

 
 

Active mostly at night.

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

 

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

 

 
     
 

Food

 
 

Decaying leaves that lack chlorophyll, earthworms, and small arthropods.

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

24, 29, 30.

Invasive Species of Aquatic Plants and Wild Animals in Minnesota Annual Report 2011 for the year ending December 31.

 
  1/30/2023      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native to northern Europe. Introduced.

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Common

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Class Gastropoda (gastropods)  
  Subclass Heterobranchia (heterobranch gastropods)  
  Infraclass Euthyneura (euthyneuran gastropods)  
  Subterclass Tectipleura  
  Superorder Eupulmonata  
  Order Stylommatophora (common land snails and slugs)  
 

Suborder

Helicina (helicinan snails and slugs)  
  Infraorder Arionoidei  
 

Superfamily

Arionoidea (roundback slugs and allies)  
 

Family

Arionidae (roundback slugs)  
  Genus Arion (arion slugs)  
 

Subgenus

Carinarion  
       
 

Until recently, this was considered a species complex that included Arion silvaticus, A. circumscriptus and A. fasciatus. The three species were differentiated by color and by their genitalia. It was later determined that the color was influenced by diet and the genital differences could not be confirmed.

 
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

 

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Arion nilssoni

Limax fasciatus

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

orange-banded arion

orange-banded slug

white-soled slug

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Mantle

On gastropods: the fleshy, membranous covering of the front of the body.

 

 
 
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Alfredo Colon

 
    orange-banded arion      
           
    orange-banded arion   orange-banded arion  
           
 
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Other Videos
 
  Arion Fasciatus Slug Lunch: Orange Mycena Mushroom
Clint Kuban
 
   
 
About

Published on Oct 24, 2016

This video is about Arion Fasciatus Slug Lunch: Orange Mycena Mushroom

 

 

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Report a sighting of this gastropod.

 
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  Alfredo Colon
8/18/2022

Location: Albany, NY

orange-banded arion  
  Alfredo Colon
8/23/2019

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

orange-banded arion  
  Alfredo Colon
6/14/2018

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

orange-banded arion  
           
 
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Created: 1/10/2019

Last Updated:

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