Snails and slugs, slowly.
Pale blue blood, thousands of tiny teeth, slime that is a liquid and a solid at once, a slug that hangs from a rope of its own slime and a ghost slug that eats earthworms like spaghetti. Every fact traced to a source and dated where it can change, plus games, printables, a page on the snails and slugs of the Isle of Man and an eraser called Useless who is in no particular hurry.
The short version
Snails and slugs are gastropods, a kind of mollusc. ‘Gastropod’ means ‘stomach foot’. The Wildlife Trusts: Yellow slug Snails and slugs make up about 70% of all mollusc species. Australian Museum: Snails and slugs · checked 30 Oct 2026
A slug is a gastropod whose shell has shrunk to a small plate or a few grains inside its body, or has gone completely. Britannica: Slug A slug still has a shell, but it’s inside, under the thick ‘mantle’ on its back. Natural History Museum, London: For the love of snails and slugs
After arthropods (such as insects and spiders), molluscs are the second biggest group of animals on the planet. Natural History Museum, London: For the love of snails and slugs The mollusc family also includes clams, mussels, oysters, chitons, squid, octopuses and cuttlefish. Natural History Museum, London: For the love of snails and slugs
And in the garden they’re busier than they look. Most snails and slugs eat dead and rotting plants, not living ones, so they are important recyclers. Natural History Museum, London: For the love of snails and slugs Fewer than a quarter of Britain’s slug species are big plant-munchers. Royal Horticultural Society: 10 fun facts about slugs (7 March 2024)
- The Natural History Museum says the UK has 100 species of land snail and 46 species of land slug. Natural History Museum, London: For the love of snails and slugs · checked 30 Oct 2026
- The RHS says there are over 44 species of slug and 90 species of snail in the UK. Royal Horticultural Society: Slugs and snails · checked 30 Oct 2026
- The Wildlife Trusts say there are around 150 species of slugs and snails in the UK. The Wildlife Trusts, 14 March 2024: The Wildlife Trusts and RHS ask gardeners to make friends with molluscs · checked 30 Oct 2026
Three trusted sources, three different figures. The sources don’t explain the difference, so we show all three. Every disagreement we found →
Start somewhere
Shells, tentacles and teethEyes on stalks, a ribbon of teeth, blue blood and a shell inside a slug.
SlimeGlue, germ-fighter and a liquid that acts like a solid.
Eggs to adultsNests, hatchlings with see-through shells, winter sleep and summer rest.
Food, and who eats themNature’s clean-up crew, and the song thrush’s anvil.
How to find themRain, a torch, a stone to turn over and three photos for the experts.
Isle of ManAbout 66 kinds of land snail, and an ash-black slug apparently unseen for over 100 years.
Tile pictures are credited on their pages and on the credits page.
The slug that hangs on a rope
Leopard slugs pair up hanging from a branch on a rope of slime, then climb back up, eating the rope as they go. Australian Museum: Leopard slug Leopard slugs are highly territorial and scare off other slugs: a ‘guard slug’! Royal Horticultural Society: Who’s who in slugs
And the one that eats worms like spaghetti
The ghost slug is pure white, almost blind, lives underground and eats earthworms ‘like spaghetti’. Natural History Museum, London: For the love of snails and slugs It was found in Wales in 2008, and its name ysbryda is Welsh for ‘ghost’: the first scientific name based on the Welsh language. Royal Horticultural Society: 10 fun facts about slugs (7 March 2024) Meet more on the species page.
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Snail and slug printables
Fact-checked PDFs in A4 and US Letter.
Snail and Slug Species Fact Cards
Twenty-two fact cards, from the garden snail and the leopard slug to the ghost slug and the giant African land snail, with a Snail or Slug? sorting game and a spotting tracker
Snail and Slug Life Cycle Pack
Eggs, hatchlings, growing and resting: sequencing cards, a life cycle wheel, label-the-snail and a snail-watching diary, with answer keys
Snail and Slug Spotter’s Pack
Garden and walk record sheets, a 20-species spotting checklist, a slime-trail hunt, an Isle of Man page and a field notebook cover
Snail and Slug Activity and Colouring Pack
Colouring pages, draw-a-shell, a slime-trail maze, word search and spot-the-difference puzzles for ages 4 to 9
Snail and Slug Facts Poster Set
Six fact-checked posters, from slime and shells to the leopard slug and the Roman snail
Snail and Slug Quiz and Word Puzzles Pack
A crossword, code breaker, fill-the-gap facts, true or false, myth busters and a 20-question quiz, with answer keys
Best valueThe Complete Snail and Slug Printables Bundle
All six packs plus a guide, A4 and US Letter, in one download.