Thursday, February 24, 2011

Hairy Snail

One of my project students, Alice Rowland, found this juvenile hairy snail, Trichia hispida, when she was surveying some grassland in Durham University Botanic Garden yesterday.
It's only about 5mm. in diameter and shows the hairy protrusions on the shell rather well. These wear away as the snail ages, presumably lost as it drags its shell through the grass.

6 comments:

  1. With great difficulty I have controlled the giant African snails in my garden. The picture of the hairy snail makes me feel queasy:( I hope I never come across one of them!

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  2. I have never seen a hairy snail before.
    Fascinating.

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  3. Well, that is something I never expected to see. Amazing.

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  4. Hi lotusleaf, I sympathise - we used to have a giant African land snail as a pet and they have a massive appetite for plants...

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  5. Hi Keith, first one I've seen too. Easy to overlook I guess as they are quite small and you need a magnifying glass to see the hairs

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  6. Hi Toffeeapple, incredible, isn't it, how much hidden diversity there is in what just looks like a boring patch of grass? You should see some of the amazing money spiders that Alice has found....

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