Love Dart - The Cupid Connection

The Cupid Connection

Some writers have commented on the parallel between the love darts of snails and the love darts fired by the mythological being Cupid, known as Eros in Greek mythology. It is even possible that there is a connection between the behavior of the snails and the myth. Malacologist (mollusk expert) Ronald Chase of McGill University said about the garden snail Helix aspersa, "I believe the myth of Cupid and his arrows has its basis in this snail species, which is native to Greece". He added, "The Greeks probably knew about this behavior because they were pretty good naturalists and observers."

In some languages, the dart that these snails use before mating is known as an "arrow". For example, in the German language it is called a Liebespfeil or "love arrow", and in the Czech language it is šíp lásky (which means "arrow of love").