Sunday, November 25, 2012

Egg Mystery Solved!

As you know, I've been trying to identify a kind of translucent egg I've been finding in small clutches all over our backyard. Well, today I gathered the data I needed to solve the mystery and I've updated my previous posts accordingly. These eggs were indeed laid by Lehmannia valentiana, not Deroceras laeve or a land snail or anything else. How do I know this? I came upon two baby slugs: one had already hatched and the other was emerging from the egg. They then began exploring their new world, probably looking for food, and moving quite rapidly. Also, I've noticed that, when first laid, the eggs are clear but gradually become more opaque the nearer the baby slugs come to hatching. I don't know why Terrestrial Mollusc Tool says that the eggs of this species are yellow, because if you look hard enough they could only be considered to have a yellow tint, not a color. To all appearances, they're a dull white. It also makes sense that these belong to Lehmannia valentiana because the large number of clutches isn't proportionate to the small population of Deroceras laeve in our yard. I should've considered that from the beginning, yet sometimes a wrong hypothesis can teach you more than a right one.

Below you'll find the pictures I took of the baby slugs. Unfortunately the eggs I'm monitoring in the garage (I had to delete the post but I'll put it back up shortly) haven't hatched yet. Hopefully they will soon. But many other clutches haven't hatched either. Anyway, I'm so glad to have finally cleared this matter up!

Baby Slug #1 (from Clutch #10):

He came from the egg on the left in that pair, the one that's deflated.
Another shot of the eggs.
He quickly set off...

Baby Slug #2 (from Clutch #9):

You see he's still got his head in the egg and is pulling it out.  I wonder if they always come out tail first? Anyway, if you look closely you can see the bodies of the other slugs in their eggs.
Now he's out!
Time to explore...

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