| Helicella itala | |
|---|---|
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| shell ofHelicella itala | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Geomitridae |
| Genus: | Helicella |
| Species: | H. itala |
| Binomial name | |
| Helicella itala (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
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| Distribution | |
| Synonyms | |
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Helicella itala is aspecies of medium-sized, air-breathingland snail, aterrestrialpulmonategastropodmollusc in the familyGeomitridae, the hairy snails and their allies.[1]
The English common name for this species is heath snail.
The width of the egg is 1.5 mm.[2]
This species of snail makes and useslove darts during mating.
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.
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The common heath snail is a WestPalearctic species which is found in the British Isles, France, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and Poland.
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.
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