Leopard Slug Mating

No, these leopard slugs aren’t at a rave, those blue glo-sticks are actually their penises, emerging from the sides of their heads.

The amorous encounters of the leopard slugs can only be described as needlessly complicated and morbidly fascinating. As land slugs are hermaphrodites, meaning that they have both male and female reproductive parts, they can simultaneously fertilise one another by wrapping their long blue penises around each other. It’s certainly an efficient set up.

Leopard slugs in particular make a big song and dance of this ritual as they, for some reason, insist on hanging upside down from a long string of mucous in an acrobatic act of slug ove.

It is thought that they have to hang upside down in order to be able to extend their frankly enormous penises, which can extend the length of their bodies. Afterwards, they can lay up to 200 eggs, from which their teeny tiny babies will emerge.