The snails and slugs belong to the large group of animals known as the molluscs. This group or phylum is second in size only to the arthropods and, as well as the snails and slugs, it includes the squids and octopus and all the aquatic bivalves, such as the cockles and mussels. These are all soft bodied animals without internal skeletons, but the majority of them have some sort of shell which both supports and protects the body. Within the molluscs, the snails and slugs belong to a group called the gastropods, a name which means 'belly feet' and which refers to the way in which the animals creep about on their bellies. The slugs have descended from various groups of snails through the reduction or complete loss of the shell, but their modes of life remain virtually the same.

If you were asked to select the most nuisance pest in a garden, most people would nominate the "SLUG", which is understandable, because they are very abundant in a garden and there are several species which are the culprits, and that can be found chewing our plants. But, actually they don't do as much damage as one might imagine.

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