If they are migrating from border areas, treating the field boundaries may be sufficient. They are soft-bodied, legless, and can be greyish or mottled in appearance. They also have a slimy or gelatinous covering that helps keep them from drying out. Although slug damage is usually associated with reduced tillage, we have seen damage in conventional fields that have an abundance of weeds. Of course the cool, wet conditions of this spring have not hurt.
Slugs feed on mould, decaying organic matter and plant foliage such as corn and soybeans.
Typical symptoms of slug damage on corn leaves include narrow, irregular, linear tracks or scars of different lengths. Soybean damage can also resemble hail but often slugs will eat partly or completely through the leaves, leaving irregular holes. Leaf symptoms in corn and soybeans can have a skeletonized or webbed appearance. With the coming of warm weather corn and soybean plants will be able to outgrow any future feeding damage. Check under debris and clumps of soil.