Two or three years ago someone IRL mentioned to me that it was weird that she hadn’t seen slugs in a long time. (She meant the leopard slug.) I realized that I hadn’t, either. And in the years since then, I haven’t seen one once. And it isn’t that I haven’t been paying attention–I do a lot of yard nature photography, especially after rain. If they had been out in the past normal frequency, I would have encountered them multiple times over the past few years. But since I started paying increased attention, I haven’t seen a slug bigger than maybe a quarter of an inch.
The last time I saw a slug was yesterday. It was about 1 cm long and crawling on the radio. Somehow they have found a way to get inside, and it is unpleasant to step on them when I am barefoot. Musical interlude:
I haven’t seen slugs in years. Not since I gradually began growing the various snails I’ve been finding in the yard over the years. So that’s once possible cause, out competed. I had the idea of growing the snails bigger, and eating them, but once they grow to a certain size, all I find are their hollowed out shells – either birds, or mammals. So that’s where snail and possibly slugs may go. Also, with more humid nights, there’s more fireflies, and their females also feed on snails, and possibly slugs.
So, are you seeing more snails, birds, mammals and fireflies? That’s could be where the slugs have gone.
Plenty of fireflies and birds. The only snails around here are a quarter inch or less across. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, though. I wonder if fire ants eat slugs?
When we vacation in St Martin we often hike to the highest spot on the island, which is within a rainforest ecosystem. Twice our hike coincided with snail breeding season, making the hike difficult as nearly every step involves crunching big snails. Oddly, the trail we hike on is the only place we’ve ever seen a snail on the island, and even then, only when they are breeding.
As usually happens with these things 3 days after posting that I haven’t seen a leopard slug in years, I saw one yesterday. Not very large, but definitely a leopard slug. I found it while photographing a weird two-toned mushroom that is apparently from the planet Cheron.
You have (probably) taken a picture of an agonizing infection . I think you have a shot of bolete being parasitized by its fungal arch-nemesis Hypomyces chrysospermus, which is the white bit starting to engulf the cap.
Fungi eating fungi, a tale as old as the world. My favorite is the Russula eater Asterophora parasitica. Aside from the great name the spores on their caps are really neat under a microscope.
. I think you have a shot of bolete being parasitized by its fungal arch-nemesis