About Limacus maculatus (Kaleniczenko, 1851)
Limacus maculatus, commonly known as the green cellar slug or Irish yellow slug, is a species of slug originally native to the Caucasus and Black Sea coast. It has been introduced to multiple northern European countries, and is often synanthropic within its introduced range. This species closely resembles Limacus flavus in external appearance, so the two are most likely to be confused with one another. If Limacus is classified as a subgenus of Limax, the correct scientific name for this species is Limax ecarinatus Boettger, 1881. This name change is necessary because Nunneley had already described a species named Limax maculatus in 1837. While that 1837 Limax maculatus is now recognized as a synonym of Limax maximus, the combination Limax maculatus cannot be reused for this later-described species that was also given the specific epithet maculatus, even though the 1851 description originally placed the species in the different genus Krynickillus. This species is thought to be native to parts of Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Turkey, southwestern Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Today it has spread to Great Britain, Ireland, Greece, the Canary Islands, Germany, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belarus, Kyiv (Ukraine), and Saint Petersburg and Astrakhan (Russia).
