BIODIVERSITY

This small brown slug is a drab, unassuming species. It has not been officially reported or confirmed for Santa Barbara, so the exact identity remains unknown. Both the meadow slug (D. laeve) and the brown field slug (D. panormitanum) have been found in Southern California, but dissection is needed to confirm one or the other. Both species differ from the gray field slug (D. reticulatum) in their brown color and their clear, watery mucus. The meadow slug may be a native species, but its wide, human-assisted range across the holarctic region has made it difficult to determine where exactly it originated. The brown field slug is introduced from Europe.