Arion | |
---|---|
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Arion rufus | |
Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
Order: | Stylommatophora |
Family: | Arionidae |
Genus: |
Arion A. Férussac, 1819 [1] |
Type species | |
Arion empiricorum A. Férussac, 1819
|
Arion is a genus of air-breathing land slugs in the family Arionidae, the roundback slugs. Most species of this Palearctic genus are native to the Iberian Peninsula. [2]
Species can be difficult to distinguish from one another upon cursory examination, because individuals of a species can vary in color and there are few obvious differences between taxa. [3] The color of an individual can be influenced by its diet. [4]
Some Arion are known as pests, such as A. lusitanicus auct. non Mabille (= A. vulgaris), which damages agricultural crops and ornamental plants, and A. rufus, a familiar garden pest. [5] Arion slugs are often transported internationally in shipments of plant products and mushrooms. [6] Arion slugs have been identified in North America and Australia as invasive species, altering the plants of ecosystems through seed predation and competing with native slugs. [7]
There are approximately 40 species in the genus. [4] [8]
Species include:
The name Arion is from Neo-Latin, from the Greek areíones, a “kind of snail or slug.” [11]
Arion | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Arion rufus | |
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
Order: | Stylommatophora |
Family: | Arionidae |
Genus: |
Arion A. Férussac, 1819 [1] |
Type species | |
Arion empiricorum A. Férussac, 1819
|
Arion is a genus of air-breathing land slugs in the family Arionidae, the roundback slugs. Most species of this Palearctic genus are native to the Iberian Peninsula. [2]
Species can be difficult to distinguish from one another upon cursory examination, because individuals of a species can vary in color and there are few obvious differences between taxa. [3] The color of an individual can be influenced by its diet. [4]
Some Arion are known as pests, such as A. lusitanicus auct. non Mabille (= A. vulgaris), which damages agricultural crops and ornamental plants, and A. rufus, a familiar garden pest. [5] Arion slugs are often transported internationally in shipments of plant products and mushrooms. [6] Arion slugs have been identified in North America and Australia as invasive species, altering the plants of ecosystems through seed predation and competing with native slugs. [7]
There are approximately 40 species in the genus. [4] [8]
Species include:
The name Arion is from Neo-Latin, from the Greek areíones, a “kind of snail or slug.” [11]