Gardeners warned over type of slug that's 'beneficial' to your garden

Gardeners are being cautioned about a particular type of slug that is common in British gardens during the winter months. While gardeners typically grapple with these plant-eating pests throughout the year, slugs and snails focus on breeding and laying eggs for the following year during the wet and rainy autumn and winter seasons.

However, according to BBC's Countryfile, there is one variety of slug that should be left undisturbed. Leopard slugs, named for their distinctive spotted markings, do not consume living leaves but instead feed on dead plant matter that accumulates in gardens at this time of year. Their diet includes fungi, dead plants, and even deceased animals such as birds and mice. Interestingly, leopard slugs also prey on other slugs.

This makes them beneficial garden cleaners, tidying up around raised beds, in greenhouses, and on lawns, which can help prevent the spread of diseases from dead plants or animals to healthy crops. As BBC Countryfile explains: "If you spot a leopard slug in your garden, don't despair as this species is not regarded as a plant pest. The preferred diet of the leopard slug is fungi, dead plant or animal matter making it a useful species to have around.

"Easily recognisable with its leopard-like spots, the species can grow up to 16cm and is commonly found in parkland, woodland and gardens," reports the Express.

The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust supports this, stating: "These guys don't do much damage to living plants, as they eat mainly dead and rotting vegetation along with fungi, which helps recycle nutrients and fertilise the soil. But the really cool thing about leopard slugs is that they are omnivorous and will hunt down other slugs, overwhelming them with a top speed of 6 in/min."