 A love dart ( also known as a gypsobelum ) is a sharp , calcareous or chitinous dart which some hermaphroditic land snails and slugs create . Love darts are made in sexually mature animals only , and are used as part of the sequence of events during courtship , before actual mating takes place . Darts are quite large compared to the size of the animal : in the case of the semi @-@ slug genus Parmarion , the length of a dart can be up to one fifth that of the semi @-@ slug 's foot . 
