A laboratory method for assessing the toxicity of stomach poisons to slugs

Abstract

SUMMARY A method is described that allows the toxicity of stomach poisons to the grey field slug, Agriolimax reticulatus (Muller), to be measured in the laboratory. The relative toxicities of three commonly used molluscicides, as expressed by the median lethal dose values, were: sodium pentachlorophenate most toxic with a median value of 22·9 ± 2·5 μg/slug, metaldehyde next with one of 85·2 ± 4·0 μg/slug, and copper sulphate least toxic with one of 129·2 ± 5·9 to 131·6 ± 5·6 μg/slug. The technique allows a given dose of any poison, however repellent, to be administered, but does not measure the repellency or attractiveness.