Helicella itala is a species of medium-sized, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Geomitridae, the hairy snails and their allies.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Helicella itala (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=426387 on 2021-02-01
The English common name for this species is heath snail.
Subspecies Helicella itala itala (Linnaeus, 1758) Helicella itala pampelonensis (A. Schmidt, 1855)
Life cycle The width of the egg is 1.5 mm.Heller J.: Life History Strategies. in Barker G. M. (ed.): The biology of terrestrial molluscs. CABI Publishing, Oxon, UK, 2001, . 1-146, cited page: 428.
This species of snail makes and uses love darts during mating.
Description The 12–20 mm. shell is broad and very depressed with an open coil forming a convex, low spire. The umbilicus is very wide. The whorls are slightly convex, and have shallow sutures. The aperture is elliptical and lacks an internal rib. The surface (periostracum) is white or pale yellow-brown. The shell often (but not always) has dark brown or yellow-brown spiral bands, and the surface has fine irregular growth ridges.
Distribution The common heath snail is a Western Palearctic species which is found in the British Isles, France, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and Poland.
Habitat The animals live on dry, exposed habitats, such as roadsides and railway embankments, vegetated sand dunes as well as rock boulders and short grassland. They live up to 2000 m above sea level in the Alps and Pyrenees.
References
Provoost, S.; Bonte, D. (Ed.) (2004). Animated dunes: a view of biodiversity at the Flemish coast [Levende duinen: een overzicht van de biodiversiteit aan de Vlaamse kust]. Mededelingen van het Instituut voor Natuurbehoud, 22. Instituut voor Natuurbehoud: Brussel, Belgium. . 416, ill., appendices pp.
External links
Helicella itala at Animalbase taxonomy, short description, distribution, biology, status (threats), images Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata [10th revised edition], vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae