Slug appeal

From Gerald Legg I fully support Lachlan Jones’s comments on the conservation  of oft-ignored creepy crawlies  (15 February, p 34). These often dull, brown, tiny and secretive critters should receive at least as much attention as the more charismatic species. After all, their place at the bottom of the ecological web means they support those more “attractive” species above. Sadly, though, they don’t have the same appeal as a pretty bird or butterfly. One reason is that birds, butterflies and mammals have considerable aesthetic appeal: we love colour and form. Vision is our main sense, and our large brain’s cortex devotes 30 per cent of itself to dealing with vision processing, hence our focus on the charismatic species. Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, UK