Helicodonta obvoluta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Helicodonta obvoluta |
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| The shell of an adult Helicodonta obvoluta | |
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Helicodonta obvoluta is a special kind of land snail that breathes air. It's a mollusk found on land, belonging to the family Helicodontidae. This snail is sometimes called the "cheese snail." Can you guess why? It's because its shell looks a lot like a wheel of cheese!
You can find these snails in many parts of Europe. They usually live in forests with deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves) and mixed forests.
What Does the Cheese Snail Look Like?
Young Helicodonta obvoluta snails have tiny hairs on their shells. These hairs are about 1 millimeter long. Older snails might not have these hairs anymore.
The shell is dark brown. It has a flat top with a slightly sunken spire (the pointy part of a snail shell). It also has a wide umbilicus (a hole in the center of the shell's underside).
The opening of the shell, called the peristome, is flat on the top and bottom. The edge of this opening is white and turns outwards. It has a slightly thicker part, which makes the shell's mouth look like it has three sections in some snails.
The shell is usually about 10 to 15 millimeters wide. It is about 5 to 7 millimeters tall. An adult snail weighs around 414 milligrams. Unlike many other snails, Helicodonta obvoluta does not have love darts.
Life Cycle of the Cheese Snail
The average life span for a Helicodonta obvoluta snail is about two years. Some can live up to three years. They are active from April to November. During the day, they are most active in the early morning and at night.
Snails can mate for two to three hours. They have two main times for laying eggs. The first is in spring, from April to June. The second is in autumn, from August to October.
They lay their eggs in groups, called clutches. Each clutch has about 9 to 27 eggs. They often lay eggs in rotten wood. The eggs are covered with a slimy layer to keep them safe.
Baby snails hatch after 14 to 31 days. They become adult snails after 140 to 624 days. Snails born in spring might grow up in the same year. But snails born in autumn usually have to spend the winter as young snails.
Helicodonta obvoluta snails spend most of their lives near or inside fallen tree trunks. These logs are great places for them to lay eggs, find food, and hide during the day. They also use them to sleep through the winter. In places with warmer, ocean-like weather, snails can also sleep in piles of fallen leaves.
Where Do Cheese Snails Live?
You can find Helicodonta obvoluta across a large part of Europe. Their main home stretches from northwestern Spain all the way to France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and parts of Germany. They also live in Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia.
There are also some smaller groups of these snails in southeastern England and northern Germany. These might be leftover groups from a time when the snails lived in even more places.
It's a bit unclear if they live in Albania, North Macedonia, and Greece. Some scientists think the snails there are a different species called Helicodonta albanica. Others think they are just a type of Helicodonta obvoluta.
