Snails, Slugs and Arthropods

In Explore May 6, 2009, #464.

Ariolimax columbianus photographed on the Lake Serene trail in the North Cascades.

Photographed on a Memorial Day hike in the Chuckanuts.

The hole is the breathing hole.

This is the Black Arion or European Black Slug, an invasive species here in the Pacific Northwest. It was photographed at Goose Rock in Deception Pass State Park at the base of a tree. It was nearly six inches (15 cm) long. The hole on the side is the breathing hole and the "horns" are actually eye stalks. Though a pest I left it to go its way.

This creature, Harpaphe hayadeniana, fairly common in our forests, is also known as the Night-train Millipede. Its other name, Cyanide Millipede, refers to its ability to emit hydrogen cyanide gas, the poison that smells like almonds, when threatened. It is not large enough to be dangerous to humans, though contact with the gas might burn a bit. The first time we saw it, I was trying to keep it from escaping and noticed that it smelled like almonds. It was only when we returned home, however, and I looked it up that I found that the smell was actually cyanide.

In Explore January 14, 2012, #280. This thing was huge, about four inches long! We found it on one of our hikes in Turkey Run State Park in Indiana and have since identified it as the North American Millipede, Narceus americanus. We've also learned that it was a good thing we didn't touch it, since it is able to release a liquid that can burn the skin. Photographing it was a particular challenge since we were in a dark area of the forest and it moved rather quickly (who wouldn't with a thousand legs?). This was the best picture I got and if you look at it large you can even see the compound eye. Whenever I see one of these many-legged creatures I remember a poem I learned as a child and which I've since learned comes in different versions. This is how I learned it: A centipede was happy – quite! Until a frog in fun Said, "Pray, which leg comes after which?" This raised her mind to such a pitch, She lay distracted in the ditch Considering how to run. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2011/11/turkey-run-...