Cernuella virgata
| Cernuella virgata | |
|---|---|
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| Cernuella virgata aestivating on a plant's stem in Spain. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura clade Panpulmonata clade Eupulmonata clade Stylommatophora informal group Sigmurethra |
| Superfamily: | Helicoidea |
| Family: | Hygromiidae |
| Subfamily: | Hygromiinae |
| Tribe: | Hygromiini |
| Genus: | Cernuella |
| Subgenus: | Cernuella |
| Species: | C. virgata |
| Binomial name | |
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Cernuella virgata (Da Costa, 1778) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Helicella virgata |
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Helicella virgata
Cernuella virgata, also known as Helicella virgata, common name, the "vineyard snail", is a species of small, air-breathing land snail, a pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Hygromiidae, the hairy snails and their allies.
This species of snail makes and uses love darts.
The shell is from 6 to 19 mm in height and 8 to 25 mm in width.
The coloration of the shell is quite variable, but there is often a creamy-white background, with a variable number of pale to darker brown markings. Some shells are banded at the periphery and on the underside.
For terms see gastropod shell
The 15 x 12–23 mm. shell has 4.5-5.5 convex whorls.The last whorl is initially angulated or rounded. The aperture is rounded with a whitish or reddish lip inside and margin is not reflected, The umbilicus is always open, 1/10-1/6 of shell diameterand sometimes slightly excentric. The cloour of the periostracum is whitish or yellowish, sometimes with red hue and usually with two brown colour bands on the upper side and 3-4 narrower bands on the lower side, initially finely ribbed, weakly striated at lower whorls.
This snail is endemic to Mediterranean and Western Europe, including the British Isles. This species has been recovered from the Roman occupation of Volubilis, an archaeological site in present-day Morocco.
Cernuella virgata is an invasive species and an agricultural pest in parts of Australia, where it arrived around 1920. In Australia it is known as the "common white snail".
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Wikipedia