Word: slug
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Dates: during 1970-1970
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Entomologist Floyd F. Smith made the discovery after experiments with various slug killers. In a four-day test, he found that the standard bait, metaldehyde (which must be mixed with arsenic), attracted and killed only 28 slugs. Even then, the chemical caused the slugs to slug back: reacting to the poison, they exuded "copious quantities of slime" that Smith describes as "revolting to householders." By contrast, a shallow pan of beer lured 300 slugs: they sipped, then slipped, and happily drowned in the brew without a fight...