EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ACCLIMATIZATION ON CUTICULAR TRANSPIRATION OF THE PULMONATE SLUG MILAX RUSTICUS (MILLET, 1843) (MOLLUSCA: MILACIDAE)G. ACHUTHAN NAIR AND MUFTAH A.EL-MARIAMIAbstract The transpiration rates of five sub-adult Milax riiSliCUS (Millet) (Mollusca, Milacidae) acclimatized for 48 hours at temperatures 2, 7, 12, 17, 22 and 27°C, showed a gradual increase from 2 to 27°C. Significantly different transpiration rates were discernible in M. rusticus acclimatized to different temperatures (F=82.70; p<0.01) and betwecn acclimatized sluge (F=5.59; P<0.01). However, the differences in transpiration rates of these sluge within a particular acclimatized temperature were in significant (F=1.76; p<0.05). A strong relationship (w2=0.89) existed between transpiration rates and temperature acclimatizations. The differences in transpiration rates were not significant in M. rusticus acclimatized at 7 and 12°C. The north-eastern coastal belt of Libya stretching from Benghazi in the west of Al-Beida in the east is inhabited and colonized by the pulmonate slug Milax rust icus (Millet, 1843) (Nair et al. 1996). It appears in large numbers on the soil surface from mid-
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