Cernuella virgata, also known as Helicella virgata, common name

Common name

A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...

, the "vineyard snail", is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of small, air-breathing land snail

Snail

Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...

, a pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Hygromiidae

Hygromiidae

Hygromiidae is a taxonomic family of small to medium-sized air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicoidea.-Anatomy:...

, the hairy snails and their allies.

This species of snail makes and uses love darts.

Shell description

The shell

Gastropod shell

The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, one kind of mollusc. The gastropod shell is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage...

 is from 6 to 19 mm in height and 8 to 25 mm in width.

The coloration of the shell is quite variable, but there is often a creamy-white background, with a variable number of pale to darker brown markings. Some shells are banded at the periphery and on the underside.

Distribution

This snail is endemic to Mediterranean and Western Europe

Western Europe

Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...

, including the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

. This species has been recovered from the Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 occupation of Volubilis

Volubilis

Volubilis is an archaeological site in Morocco situated near Meknes between Fez and Rabat along the N13 road. The nearest town is Moulay Idriss. Volubilis features the best preserved Roman ruins in this part of northern Africa...

, an archaeological site in present day Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

.

Cernuella virgata is an invasive species

Invasive species

"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

 and an agricultural pest in parts of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, where it arrived around 1920. In Australia it is known as the "common white snail".

Another land snail which is present as an invasive in Australia, and which is sometimes confused with Cernuella virgata is the species Theba pisana

Theba pisana

Theba pisana, common names the white garden snail, the sand hill snail, white Italian snail, the Mediterranean coastal snail, or simply the Mediterranean snail, is an edible species of medium-sized air-breathing land snail, a pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae...

. It is somewhat similar in appearance, and lives under similar circumstances. Theba pisana is however a larger species with a more inflated shell, lower spire and a nearly covered umbilicus, (see the pair of comparative images below).

Behavior and human relevance

This species aestivates after climbing to the top of vegetation (or fences). This habit is problematic for farmers engaged in in crop harvesting, because numerous snails are collected along with the crop.

Parasites

Cernuella virgata is as intermediate host for the terrestrial trematode parasite Brachylaima cribbi

Brachylaima cribbi

Brachylaima cribbi is a species of terrestrial trematode parasite in family Brachylaimidae.- Overview :Intermediate hosts for Brachylaima cribbi are terrestrial snails Cochlicella acuta, Cernuella virgata and Theba pisana....

.

Gastronomy

Cernuella virgata, with Theba pisana

Theba pisana

Theba pisana, common names the white garden snail, the sand hill snail, white Italian snail, the Mediterranean coastal snail, or simply the Mediterranean snail, is an edible species of medium-sized air-breathing land snail, a pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae...

, is consumed in Spain as a "tapa" in the bars, especially in Andalusia, where snails are known as "Chichos" snails.