Helix lucorum
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SPECIES
Helix lucorum

Helix lucorum is a species of large, edible, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae, the typical snails.

Appearance

Adult snails weigh about 20-25 g.

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The width of the shell is 35-60 mm. The height of the shell is 25–45 mm.

This species of snail makes and uses love darts.

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Distribution

Geography

The native distribution is the Caucasus, Anatolia and, arguably, the Balkans. It has also invaded many other regions since ancient times, likely assisted by humans.

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Eastern native range with main genetic diversity of the species:

  • Anatolia ( Turkey)
  • Georgia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Armenia
  • Northern Iran

Balkans (probably native):

  • Albania
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Greece
  • Macedonia
  • Serbia
  • Turkey

Other countries:

  • Israel
  • Syria
  • Russia - could be native in Caucasus, invasive in some other regions
  • Italy - probably invasive
  • Hungary - probably invasive
  • Romania - probably invasive
  • Ukraine - invasive, in Crimea ("Helix taurica Krynicki, 1833") at least since early 19 century, probably much longer, these populations originated from Anatolia; other colonies of a different lineage also appear since 2000s in mainland part of Southern Ukraine and in Crimea as well
  • Czech Republic - invasive, since 2009, as of 2011 the only locality is Prague- Žižkov
  • Slovakia - invasive, since 2013, as of 2014 the only locality is in Bratislava
  • France - invasive
  • Great Britain - invasive, since 2009, at Wimbledon

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Habits and Lifestyle

The diameter of the egg is 4.4 mm. Juvenile snails that are two to three months old weigh 0.5-0.9 g.

Lifestyle

Diet and Nutrition

Population

References

1. Helix lucorum Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helix_lucorum
2. Helix lucorum on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/156744/134874976

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