ISSUE #04: Something Slugs Do That You Will Probably Never See

It’s sex.

Writing about the various ways that insects copulate might be one of my favorite things to do, and I don’t know what that says about me, but it can’t be anything good. One of the best pieces I’ve ever published was an article about the meaning of all those snails in that not-so-erotic-but-sort-of-good Adrian Lyne Hulu thriller Deep Water, comparing Ana de Armas and Ben Affleck’s tainted and combative relationship to the violent way in which some snails mate. The first official issue of this very Substack was inspired by watching two fireflies do the deed. 

Bugs, as a rule, tend to have bizarre ways of exchanging genetic material, but very few come close to the reproductive ritual of the leopard slug.