Theba pisana

Taxobox
name = "Theba pisana"

---

image_caption = "Theba pisana" snails aestivate on a fence post in Kadina, Australia.
status =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
ordo = Stylommatophora
familia = Helicidae
genus = "Theba"
species = "T. pisana"
binomial = "Theba pisana"
binomial_authority = (Müller, 1774)
synonyms = "Eupharypha pisana" (Müller)

"Theba pisana", common name the white garden snail, also known as the white Italian snail, the Mediterranean coastal snail or simply the Mediterranean snail, is a species of medium-sized air-breathing land snail, a pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae.

This snail is sometimes confused with "Cernuella virgata", a species with a much smaller and less inflated shell.

This species of snail makes and uses love darts.

Distribution

The species is native to Mediterranean Europe.

It has been introduced to numerous other areas including Great Britain [Kerney M.P. & Cameron R. A. D., 1979. "A field guide to the land snails of Britain and northwestern Europe". - Collins, London.] , the USA in California, parts of Africa, Asia, southeastern Australia, Tasmania, and other areas. In many of these places it has become an problematic invasive species and a serious agricultural pest. Also see: List of introduced species and List of invasive species.

hell description

The shell is usually from 12 to 15 mm in maximum dimension. Rarely it can be as large as 25 mm. The shell background color is a creamy white. Different individuals may have shells with varying degrees of pale to dark brown markings. The markings, when present, may be in the form of uninterrupted spiral bands, spiral dotted lines, or small radial smudges.

Behavior

This species aestivates by attaching itself to vertical surfaces such as fence posts, tall weeds, bushes, trees, and so on.

Ecology

"Theba pisana" is an intermediate host for the terrestrial trematode parasite "Brachylaima cribbi". [Butcher A. R. & Grove D. I.: [http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17456466 Seasonal variation in rates of sporocyst and metacercarial infection by "Brachylaima cribbi" in helicid and hygromiid land snails on the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia] . - Australian Journal of Zoology, 2006, 53(6): 375–382.]

References

External links

* [http://www.pestalert.org/viewArchPestAlert.cfm?rid=52 white garden snail] on the NAPPO site
* [http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/white_garden_snail.htm white garden snail] on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site