The gardener suggested fighting leopard slugs with beer

Andrey Tumanov, chairman of the Moscow Horticultural Union, said that the use of beer can help in the fight against leopard slugs, which are expected to invade the Moscow region this season.

In conversation with aif.ru On Friday, May 22, the specialist noted that the best way to deal with slugs is to keep the site in order, depriving them of shelters. If the pests have already appeared, he recommended using mechanical traps: lay out boards or plywood, under which containers with water or beer are placed — the smell of the latter especially attracts slugs, after which they can be collected.

The expert also added that ash helps: it is recommended to scatter it around plants, as it irritates slugs, deprives them of protective mucus and can lead to their death.

In an interview with NSN on May 21, Tumanov called the destruction of weeds a proven method of combating slugs. This deprives them of their food supply, he notes 360.ru .

At the same time, Candidate of Biological Sciences Pavel Glazkov, in an interview with the Moscow city News agency, said that this season residents of the Moscow region may encounter leopard slugs, which can reach 20 cm in length. Several species of large slugs live in Moscow and the region, including the red road slug and the leopard slug. The expert noted that they can carry parasites, therefore, when ingested with poorly washed vegetables, they can cause diseases, including meningitis, writes Moscow 24.

On the same day, biologist Dmitry Safonov named leopard slugs as gardeners' helpers. According to him, they do not touch living plants, but, like real predators, prefer squirrels— other slugs, and their eggs. Thus, they help to regulate the number of pests. They prefer to settle where the humidity is higher: in greenhouses, greenhouses, compost piles and damp cellars, the website reports kp.ru .

Associate Professor of the Department of General Biology and Bioecology at the State University of Education, biologist Olga Trofimova, spoke about methods of combating slugs that spread infections. According to her, the most effective and safe way to control Spanish slugs and grape snails is manual harvesting and subsequent destruction, preferably incineration.