Invasive semi-slug suspected in TaoyuanBy Wei Chin-yun and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writerAn environmental educator and researcher on Monday said that he believes he found a species of invasive semi-slug that was thought to have disappeared from Taiwan, potentially posing a threat to certain crops. Watson Crick’s Scientific Lab founder Hua Shun-fa on Monday holds up a leaf with what he suspects might be two members of an invasive semi-slug species in Taoyuan. Most invasive snails are brought by flora imported for gardening, but are usually stymied by the required pesticide treatment for imported plants, he said. The Taoyuan Department of Agriculture said that it had not heard of any P martensi sightings before now. Hua said that the semi-slug is a good host for the rat lungworm, or Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which can cause eosinophilic meningitis in humans.

Source: Taipei Times October 23, 2020 15:56 UTC