Cantareus apertus,[2] commonly known as the green garden snail, is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Helicidae, the typical snails.
Cantareus apertus | |
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Cantareus apertus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
Order: | Stylommatophora |
Family: | Helicidae |
Genus: | Cantareus |
Species: | C. apertus
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Binomial name | |
Cantareus apertus | |
Synonyms | |
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Cantareus apertus is native to Europe primarily near the Mediterranean Sea, and also North Africa.
Distribution of Cantareus apertus include:
In Salento it is known as municeḍḍe and in Sicily as attuppateḍḍu.
It has also been introduced to other areas:
This species is already established in the United States, and is considered to represent a potentially serious threat as a pest, an invasive species which could negatively affect agriculture, natural ecosystems, human health or commerce. Therefore, it has been suggested that this species be given top national quarantine significance in the USA.[5]
The shell has periostracum which is olive green in colour.[3] The last whorl is much larger than the others.[3] The width of the shell is 22–28 mm.; the height of the shell is also 22–28 mm.[3]
Cantareus apertus inhabits Mediterranean shrublands, near cultivated fields, gardens.[3] In Gavdos (Greece) also in woodland spreading on recently abandoned cultivated fields, more rarely in natural habitats.[3]
In Crete this species is active for 3–4 months after the first rainfalls in October. It aestivates buried relatively deep in the soil.[3] In hot, dry weather, it burrows three to six inches[citation needed] into the ground and becomes dormant until rain softens the soil. A white convex epiphragm is created for aestivation.[3]
This species of snail makes and uses love darts.
This article incorporates public domain text from the reference.[3]