The budapest slug has an annual life cycle, eggs, juveniles and adults pass the winter. It is a sub-surface species with burying ability.
Its native range is Eastern Europe, but it has spread to Central Europe and the British Isles, New Zealand and probably the USA.
The budapest slug lives in man made habitats, urban areas, gardens, ploughed fields, occurs in greenhouses and woods.
Due to the subterranean life, the damages of the budapest slug are root crops, mainly potatoes and some ornamental plants in Western Europe.
The slug eats holes in the surface of tubers and bulbs.
One of the most damaging species in the UK.
The slug-parasitic nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita is used as a biological control agent against the budapest slug.
The budapest slug is a prey of several, field-inhabiting ground beetle species.
Biological Name
Tandonia budapestensis (Hazay, 1880)
Common Name
Budapest slug
Other Common Name
Keeled slug
Appearance/Characteristics
A medium-sized keeled slug, very slender when extended and 50 to 60 mm long. The pneumostome is located in the posterior half of the mantle. Its colour is black-brown with a dirty-yellow stripe along the keel. The prominent keel reaches the mantle. The sole has a dark central and paler lateral areas.
Other Similar Species