{"id":162,"date":"2010-08-15T01:53:09","date_gmt":"2010-08-15T00:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography"},"modified":"2019-01-28T16:57:42","modified_gmt":"2019-01-28T16:57:42","slug":"leopard-slugs-mating","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.permuted.org.uk\/photography\/behaviour\/leopard-slugs-mating\/","title":{"rendered":"Leopard Slugs Mating"},"content":{"rendered":"

This sequence was taken over a 15 minute period on 25 July 2009. It shows a pair of leopard slugs (Limax maximus<\/em>) in the act of mating.<\/p>\n

The slugs are ‘hermaphroditic’, that is they carry both male and female organs. It still, however, takes a pair to breed. When they are ready to mate, the slugs suspend themselves in mid-air by a length of mucus, and then entwine their bodies tightly together. The male organ then everts (emerges) from just behind the head of each slug, and together embark on a prehensile dance.<\/p>\n

The shots here show most of the stages as they twist together and create a blue-white, semi translucent globe. Both slugs are fertilized by the process, and then disentangle before going their separate way.<\/p>\n

Scientific name: Limax maximus<\/em>
\nLocation: Sussex<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This sequence was taken over a 15 minute period on 25 July 2009. It shows a pair of leopard slugs (Limax maximus) in the act of mating. The slugs are ‘hermaphroditic’, that is they carry both male and female organs. It still, however, takes a pair to breed. When they are ready to mate, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":159,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-162","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t