The red triangle slug is Australia’s largest native of its kind, and those wondering who drew on the animal with a red Texta have nothing to fear.
The nocturnal animals have been appearing in backyards all over Brisbane during broad daylight, causing many confused viewers to wonder what the creature was.
Why exactly is it called a red triangle slug? Because that is exactly what “racing stripes” the animal sports on its back.
Officially known as Triboniophorus graeffei, common all over the east coast of Australia (predominantly in NSW and Queensland), they are not usually seen around this time of year.
However, the seemingly never-ending deluge in the neighbouring states this year means that the iconic slugs have emerged from their hiding spots much earlier than planned.
Queensland Museum honorary research fellow Dr John Stanisic said that the signs are good for local ecosystems when slugs are out and about.
“Everyone should have a slug in their backyard,” he said.
“We have more introduced slugs here in Australia than we do native ones, so this is good to see.”
Whilst spectacular to look at, the red triangle slug provides a free cleaning service on areas such as outdoor dining sets, pool areas and gardens by grazing on microscopic algae and fungi.
Brisbane’s Mount Cordeaux is known for producing all-red and all-yellow variants of the species, although scientists believe that future molecular studies will reveal these as distinct species.
“The triangle is always on their backs except on the bright orange variety found at Mount Bellenden Ker in far-north Queensland, where you can see them on the trees from the cable car if it’s raining as they’re so bright,” Dr Stanisic said.
“We believe the colours come from the food they’re eating.”
Once the rain dissipates, the slugs will disappear during visibility hours, but Dr Stanisic says they will still be contributing to the local ecosystem.
“[They’ll] make their way up trees to heights of 12 metres feeding on micro algae found on the bark,” he said.
“Before dawn they’ll make their way back down into their hidey-hole again.”
