Girdled Snail (Hygromia cinctella (Draparnaud, 1801))

Scientific name: Hygromia cinctella (Draparnaud, 1801)
Common name: Girdled Snail
French name: Hélice carénée
Order: Stylommatophora
Size: Diameter of 10 to 12 mm, height of 6 to 7 mm.
Habitat : Woodlands, hedgerows, fallow lands.
Food: Plants.
Reproduction : Cross-fertilizing hermaphrodite.
Geographic area: Mediterranean Region, extending along the Rhone Valley as far as Switzerland and in western France. Introduced to south-western England and to the Netherlands.

The Girdled Snail has a translucent globular shell allowing to see the patches of the mantle by transparency.
The upper side of the shell is conical-shaped and shows 5 to 6 whorls separated by a shallow suture. The last whorl has a sharp keel. The umbilicus is very small.
The colour varies from whitish to yellowish or pale brown. There is a white line on the keel.
You van see thin growth stripes.


Girdled Snail (Hygromia cinctella) - Saône-et-Loire, France - April 30th 2011
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Girdled Snail (Hygromia cinctella)
This snail, with a translucent shell, shows the main characteristics of the Girdled Snail species. However I have not shot any suitable pictures nor observed with the right angle of view to confirm the presence of a keel.



Girdled Snail (Hygromia cinctella) - Saône-et-Loire, France - April 30th 2011
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Girdled Snail (Hygromia cinctella)
As I am not very experienced, I still have some doubts about the species identification.

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