Vespericola is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of air-breathing land snail

Land snail

A land snail is any of the many species of snail that live on land, as opposed to those that live in salt water and fresh water. Land snails are terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells, It is not always an easy matter to say which species are terrestrial, because some are more or less...

s, 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 mollusks in the family Polygyridae

Polygyridae

Polygyridae is a family of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicoidea.The Polygyridae make up a significant proportion of the land snail fauna of eastern North America, and are also found in western North America, northern Central America, and...

.

Habitat

These snails are found along the Pacific coast of North America, from southernAlaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 and British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 to California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

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Shell description

The shells of these small to medium, globose or depressed globose snails are usually some shade of brown, sometimes without apertural teeth and sometimes with a single tooth on the parietal wall. Small periostracal hairs may be observed on the shell surface of many specimens, but the shells, otherwise, resemble those of Praticolella

Praticolella

Praticolella is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Polygyridae.This genus comprises about 15 species of small snails with semi-globose shells.-Shell description:...

or Mesodon

Mesodon

Mesodon is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Polygyridae.-Species:Species within the genus Mesodon include:* Mesodon altivagus - wandering globe...

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Anatomy

According to Pilsbry

Henry Augustus Pilsbry

Henry Augustus Pilsbry was an American biologist, malacologist and carcinologist, among other areas of study. He was a dominant presence in many fields of invertebrate taxonomy for the better part of a century...

 (1940), Vespericola "differs from all other Polygyridae by the possession of a well-developed though rather short verge, and by the peculiar shape of the epiphallus".

Species

Species within the genus Vespericola include:

• Vespericola armigera
  Vespericola armigera
  Vespericola armigera, common name the Santa Cruz hesperian, is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Polygyridae....
  
  (Ancey, 1881) - Santa Cruz hesperian
• Vespericola columbiana
  Vespericola columbiana
  Vespericola columbiana, northwest hesperian, is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Polygyridae.- Subspecies :*Vespericola columbiana depressa...
  
  (I. Lea, 1838) - northwest hesperian
  • Vespericola columbiana depressa (Pilsbry & Henderson, 1936)
  • Vespericola columbiana latilabrum Pilsbry, 1940
• Vespericola eritrichius (Berry, 1939) - velvet hesperian
• Vespericola hapla (Berry, 1933) - Butte Creek hesperian
• Vespericola karokorum Talmadge, 1962 - Karok hesperian
• Vespericola klamathicus Roth & W. B. Miller, 1995 - Klamath hesperia
• Vespericola marinensis Roth & W. B. Miller, 1993 - Marin hesperian
• Vespericola megasoma (Pilsbry, 1928) - redwood hesperian
• Vespericola megasoma euthales (Berry, 1939)
• Vespericola oria (Berry, 1933) - El Dorado hesperian
• Vespericola pilosa (Henderson, 1928) - brushfield hesperian
• Vespericola pinicola (Berry, 1916) - Monterey hesperian
• Vespericola pressleyi Roth, 1985 - Big Bar hesperian
• Vespericola rothi Cordero & W. B. Miller, 1995 - Ellery Creek hesperian
• Vespericola scotti Cordero & W. B. Miller, 1995 - Benson Gulch hesperian
• Vespericola shasta (Berry, 1921) - Shasta hesperian
• Vespericola sierrana (Berry, 1921) - Siskiyou hesperian