Why do slugs die from salt?

Slugs are described as slimy creatures of nature that many people find to be rather disgusting. Typically found as a shell-less creature, slugs are characterized to be legless, elongated, mollusks and prefer to feed at night. Highly dependent to moisture, slugs move in a forward glide that leaves a trail of slime. During the development of slugs, they undergo a one hundred eighty degree twist within its internal organ. This mechanism is also called as torsion. As slugs fully mature, they tend to enter into gardens or in soil materials, where their growth can be fully facilitated. Slugs prefer warm, moist conditions. With the onset of cooler weather, slugs will become less active or even dormant, but with the return of moist warm weather, slugs soon assume their active state.

Although found to be harmless to humans, slugs have become one of the major pests that can seriously destroy the production in agriculture and horticulture. As much as they can destroy foliage that plants can grow, they make crops vulnerable to rot and permit living creatures in acquiring a disease. In order to control massive infestation of slugs, one simple technique can be sought. The use of salt is thought to be one effective ingredient in eradicating slugs. Slugs die from salt because of the concept of osmosis. Osmosis is one diffusion process that sloes substances to move from an area of high concentration to a low concentration through a semi-permeable membrane. It has been found that slugs’ skin does not prevent water from passing through as it acts as a semi-permeable membrane. Since salt attracts water, the presence of salt around the slugs causes water to be drawn from the slug resulting to severe dehydration that will eventually facilitates slugs to its death.