White-lipped snail

The white-lipped snail or garden banded snail, scientific name Cepaea hortensis, is a medium-sized species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Helicidae. It is a close relative of the Grove Snail.

White-lipped snail
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:
Helicidae
Genus:
Cepaea
Species:
C. hortensis
Binomial name
Cepaea hortensis

Shell description
Four views of a shell of Cepaea hortensis
Cepaea hortensis

The white-lipped snail is very slightly smaller than the grove snail, the shell being usually about 2.5 cm (1 in) in maximum dimension. Like the grove snail (brown-lipped snail), it has considerable variability in shell colour and banding, although the shell of the white-lipped snail is perhaps most commonly yellow, with or without brown banding. The principal distinguishing feature of this species is a white lip at the aperture of the shell in adult specimens, although very rarely the brown-lipped grove snail can have a white lip, and vice versa.[2]

Distribution

The native distribution of this species is Western Europe and Central Europe.[3] The range of the white-lipped snail extends closer to the Arctic in Northern Europe than the range of the grove snail. The white-lipped snail has been introduced to northeastern parts of the USA, but has not established itself as successfully as the brown-lipped snail.

Habitat

The two species share many of the same habitats, such as woods, dunes and grassland, but the white-lipped snail tolerates wetter and colder areas than the brown-lipped snail can.

Life cycle

This species of snail creates and uses love darts during mating.

The size of the egg is 2 mm.[4]

gollark: Interesting!
gollark: You could try and convey this better. Or, as coltrans said, probably just wait a bit.
gollark: Because you artificially made it the only way, yes.
gollark: What I mean is that even if you think it's quite a serious place, that doesn't mean everyone else using it does.
gollark: I said nothing about them being serious arguments or not.

References
  1. Müller, O. F. 1774. Vermivm terrestrium et fluviatilium, seu animalium infusoriorum, helminthicorum, et testaceorum, non marinorum, succincta historia. Volumen alterum. - pp. I-XXVI [= 1-36], 1-214, [1-10]. Havniae & Lipsiae. (Heineck & Faber).
  2. Simon Whipps, July 2009; last updated July 2009. Life & Environment, University of the West of Scotland; BIODIVERSITY REFERENCE - Cepaea nemoralis and Cepaea hortensis
  3. Kerney M.P. & Cameron R. A. D., 1979. “A field guide to the land snails of Britain and northwestern Europe’’, Collins, London. ISBN 0-00-219676-X
  4. Heller J. 2001: Life History Strategies. in Barker G. M. (ed.): The biology of terrestrial molluscs. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, ISBN 0-85199-318-4. 1-146, cited page: 428.
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