Diplosolenodes occidentalis
species of mollusc
Diplosolenodes occidentalis is a species of air-breathing land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Veronicellidae, the leatherleaf slugs.
Distribution
Diplosolenodes occidentalis was originally discovered and described by Lansdown Guilding from the West Indian island of Saint Vincent. It seems likely that this species is native to most of the Lesser Antilles.
The distribution of Diplosolenodes occidentalis includes the Lesser Antilles:
Dominica – first record in 1884, then in 1892
It has been introduced to the Greater Antilles, Central America and northern South America:
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
In El Hatillo Miranda state – Venezuela
It occurs in greenhouses in Logan County, Oklahoma.
This species has not yet become established in the wild in the US, but it is considered to represent a potentially serious threat as a pest, an invasive species which could negatively affect agriculture, natural ecosystems, human health or commerce. Therefore, it has been suggested that this species be given top national quarantine significance in the USA.
Description
This slug is most easily recognized by the black speckling on its mantle or hyponota. The body length can reach up to 60 mm.
Ecology
This species may be found in undisturbed environments as well as in agricultural settings, where it may be regarded as a minor pest.
References
This article incorporates CC-BY-3.0 text from the reference.
Further reading
Baker H. B. (1925).
The public source identifies “Diplosolenodes occidentalis” as species of mollusc. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Diplosolenodes, occidentalis and species.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5279981. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1884, 1892 and 1925.
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This entry incorporates text from “Diplosolenodes occidentalis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.