Grove Snail - Ecology

Ecology

It is a very common and widespread species in the Western Europe, occupying a very wide range of habitats from dunes along the coast to woodlands with full canopy cover. It lives in shrubs and open woods in plains and highlands, dunes, cultivated habitats, gardens and roadsides. It can be found up to 1200 m in the Alps, 1800 m in the Pyrenees, 900 m in Wales, 600 m in Scotland.

It feeds mainly on dead or senescent plants. It is not noxious to crops.

Like most Pulmonate land snails, it is hermaphrodite and must mate to produce fertile eggs. Mating tends to be concentrated in late spring and early summer, though it can continue through the autumn. The snails often store the sperm they receive from their partner for some time, and individual broods can have mixed paternity. In Britain it lays clutches of 30-50 (in France 40-80) oval eggs are laid between June and August (in France May–October, in W France until November). The size of the egg is 3.1 × 2.6 mm or egg diameter can be 2.3-3.0 mm. Juveniles hatch after 15–20 days. Maturity is reached after shell is fully grown, in France after one year. It is comparatively slow-growing, usually taking three years to develop from an egg to a breeding adult. Life-span is up to seven-eight years, annual survival rates at about 50% (= 3% in five years, older adults suffer higher mortalities). In winter, the snails may hibernate, but can be active in warm spells.

Parasites:

• Cepaea nemoralis it is known experimental (only experimental?) host for Angiostrongylus vasorum.

Predators of Cepaea nemoralis include the Song Thrush Turdus philomelos and others.