Limax Maximus - Behavior

Behavior

Limax maximus is a nocturnal animal which feeds at night.

It is inactive in its habits, not very prolific, and exudes a thick and glutinous slime which is iridescent when dried. When alarmed, or at rest, this slug merely draws its head within the shield, but does not otherwise contract its body. When irritated, it is said to expand its shield.

The homing faculty is strongly developed in this species, which, after its nocturnal rambles or foraging expeditions, usually returns to the particular crevice or chink in which it has established itself.

Limax maximus is capable of associative learning, specifically classical conditioning, because it is capable of aversion learning and other types of learning. They can also detect that there are deficiencies in a nutritionally incomplete diet, if the essential amino acid methionine is experimentally removed from their food.

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