Slugs may not be the most welcome visitors to the garden, but they provide a vital public transport service for small worms, a study shows.
Tiny nematode worms use the slimy molluscs as taxis as they travel around in search of decomposing fruit and rotten plant material on which to feed.
Their 'carriages' consist of the slugs' guts. After invading the creatures' intestines, the worms make themselves comfortable before journeying to a far-off new location and being excreted.