Grove snail

Description

The grove snail, brown-lipped snail or Lemon snail (Cepaea nemoralis) is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc. It is one of the most common species of land snail in Europe, and has been introduced to North America. Cepaea nemoralis is among the largest and, because of its polymorphism and bright colours, one of the best-known snails in Western Europe. The colour of the shell of Cepaea nemoralis is very variable; it can be reddish, brownish, yellow or whitish, with or without one or more dark-brown colour bands. Names for every colour variant were established in the 1800s; but this system was later abandoned. The thickened and slightly out-turned apertural lip usually dark brown, rarely white. The umbilicus is narrow but open in juveniles, and closed in adults. The surface of the shell is semi-glossy, and it has from 4½ to 5½ whorls. The width of the shell is 18-25 mm. The height of the shell is 12-22 mm. The native distribution of this species is from northern and western Europe to central Europe, including Ireland and Great Britain. The species is rare and scattered in northern Scotland, where it has been introduced. It is not found in the Hebrides, Orkney or Shetland. It seems to have been affected by air pollution and soil acidification in some parts of England. The species is found in France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, eastwards to northwestern Poland, Czech Republic, SW Hungary, southern Portugal, central Spain, Bosnia, in Italy to Lucania, and as far north as southern Sweden. In Eastern Europe it is found in Latvia, Kaliningrad, Estonia (Hiiumaa island), and Ukraine. No doubt aided by human transport, this species is a good colonizer, and is often found in gardens, parks and abandoned land in cities. In Eastern Europe it occurs in urban areas. More recently, the grove snail has been introduced to North America, and Venezuela. It has been reported in British Columbia and Northern Ontario, Canada as well as in western Washington State. The white-lipped snail has a similar range, but that species extends further north, to border the Arctic. This is a very common and widespread species in Western Europe, occupying a very wide range of habitats from dunes along the coastline, to woodlands with full canopy cover. It lives in shrubs and open woods, in plains and highlands, dunes, cultivated habitats, gardens and roadsides.