Slug filmed descending from vertical thread of slime in never seen before behaviour, scientists say

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A slug has been filmed hanging in the air and descending from a vertical thread of secreted slime in behaviour never seen before, scientists have said. This is in contrast to previous reports of mucus thread production among this and other terrestrial slugs, in which individuals only hang freely from one end of a thread that is attached to a surface above.” Other species of slug, such as the leopard slug, are known to secrete slime cords to suspend a pair in mid air during copulation. “We suggest that producing a mucus thread that is tethered on both ends may be adaptive by stabilising individuals and preventing excessive sideways movements during descent, particularly when it is windy, which could lead to premature thread breakage.” Mr Gould has previously made other, more grisly slug discoveries while again researching frogs. He made the chance discovery when he came across an adult red-eyed tree frog stuck to a fallen branch behind a red triangle slug in the Watagan Mountains in New South Wales.