76 



entire surface could be cleaned would be 60 days, about half of the 

 entire active snail season. At this rate the snail grazing may not 

 suppress the biotic potential of the sooty mold and citrus rust mite. 



The author believes that the 1975 snail population levels at 

 Orange Lake, Florida, were sufficient to suppress sooty mold and mite 

 populations in accordance with calculated levels, but no quantitative 

 data confirming this are available. Snail trees during that period 

 exhibited a clean shiny gloss which was not seen during 1976 or 1977 

 observations. The author also wishes to acknowledge that these cal- 

 culations are based on a small number of snails and that additional 

 testing would be needed to be conclusive. 



