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Grove snail (Cepaea nemoralis)

Grove snail Description: Introduced into urban and suburban areas throughout the United States and southern Canada.

Identification: Nocturnal. Helix shaped shell, 18-25mm wide. Highly polymorphic in their shell color and banding - shells can be yellow, olive, red, orange or brown in color with as many as 5 black or dark brown spiral stripes. Lip is purple-brown, thickened and slightly curved. Cream colored body with a dark colored tentacle and head.

Habitat: Native to Northern and Western Europe to Central Europe including Ireland and Great Britain. Can be found in shrubs and open woods, plains and highlands, dunes, cultivated habitates, gardens and roadsides.

Reproduction: Reproduces sexually during late spring and early summer. In its' native region, clutches contain 30-80 oval eggs that are laid between May and November (depending on location). Eggs are 3.1 x 2.6 mm or a diameter of 2.3 - 3.0 mm. Juveniles hatch after 15-20 days.

Similar species: Vineyard snail (Cepaea vindobonensis), White lipped snail (Cepaea hortensis).

Credits: The information provided in this factsheet was gathered from Wikipedia.

Individual species images that appear with a number in a black box are courtesy of the Bugwood.org network (http://www.invasive.org). Individual photo author credits may not be included due to the small display size of the images and subsequent difficulty of reading the provided text. All other images appear courtesy of Google (http://images.google.com).


Common Name:

Grove snail

Scientific Name:

Cepaea nemoralis

Family:

Helicidae
(Land snail)

Habit:

Mollusks