Hygromia cinctella, sometimes known as the "girdled snail", is a European 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 terrestrial

Terrestrial animal

Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...

 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:...

.

This species creates and uses love darts in its mating behavior.

Distribution

This species of snail is native to various Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an countries and islands, including: France, Switzerland, Italy, Sicily and Slovenia.

It has been introduced and became established in Great Britain (England), Austria (Vienna) and Hungary (Budapest).

A small isolated population has become established and eradicated in Michigan (Detroit), United States.(B. Sullivan)

External links

• Image of a live individual at: http://www.nailseanature.btik.com/
• Another live individual at: http://www.open2.net/survey/snails/html_download/snail_download.htm