Lehmannia


Lehmannia is a genus of air-breathing land slugs in the family Limacidae, the keelback slugs. The genus is distributed in Europe and North Africa.

Description

These are narrow-bodied slugs up to 8 centimeters long. The mantle covers less than a third of the body length. They are cream-colored to brown or black, usually with at least two longitudinal stripes along the mantle. The sole of the foot is lightest in the middle. The penis is short compared to those of Limax, and in shape it may be "tubular, baggy, or claviform". The mucus is watery.

Biology

Many species live in mountain habitat, where they can be found on trees and rocks and feed on lichens. Other species are synanthropic and invasive.

Species

There are about 18 species in the genus. Currently authorities disagree whether to split off some species into the genus Ambigolimax, as some phylogenies based on DNA sequences suggest is appropriate. The following list defines Lehmannia in the broad sense, but indicates which species have been placed in Ambigolimax:
Note that the name Lehmannia nyctelia is no longer valid. The species originally given the species name is in the genus Letourneuxia, but the name has been mistakenly applied to three of the species listed above.