page_title: Banana slug
section_title: Ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Banana slug / Ecology
caption_attribution_description: English: A banana slug eating a small plant in Big Basin State Park, California, United States of America
context_page_description: Banana slugs are North American terrestrial slugs comprising the genus Ariolimax. They are often bright yellow although they may also be greenish, brown, tan, or white.
context_section_description: Banana slugs are detritivores, or decomposers. They process leaves, animal droppings, moss, and dead plant material, and then recycle them into soil humus. They seem to have a fondness for mushrooms, spread seeds and spores when they eat, and excrete a nitrogen rich fertilizer. By consuming detritus (dead organic matter) slugs contribute to decomposition and the nutrient cycles and are an important aspect of the ecosystem.
  Raccoons, garter snakes, ducks, geese and salamanders sometimes eat banana slugs; they roll the slugs in soil to bind the slime. Juvenile banana slugs are sometimes eaten by moles or shrews.
caption: A banana slug eating a small plant in Big Basin Redwoods State Park
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