Cepaea nemoralis (Gastropoda. Helicidae) — Whitson 



85 







Figure 3. A. The wood snail has successfully colonized 

 most of the northeastern U.S. and has also been found in 

 some western states, including California and Texas (Ab- 

 bott 1950; Burch 1962; Dundee 1974; Reed 1964). B. In 

 Kentucky, populations of the wood snail have been found 

 in Fayette, Jefferson, and Kenton Counties. (Maps cour- 

 tesy of the onhne National Atlas of the United States 

 [2005].) 



terials or of British snails in imported ivy (Bar- 

 ber 1918; Howe 1898). After the turn of the 

 century, imported shrubs from the Nether- 

 lands and Ireland were probably the source of 

 other snail populations discovered in Virginia 

 and Massachusetts, respectively (Reed 1964). 

 By 1974, populations of wood snails had been 

 documented in at least 15 states and through- 

 out the northeastern U.S. (Figure 3A). 



KENTUCKY POPULATIONS 



Documentation of land snail diversity and 

 distributions in Kentucky is scanty, but scat- 

 tered populations of C. nemoralis are reported 

 from the state (Figure 3B). Reed (1964) cited 

 a specimen found in Ohio River drift at Lou- 

 isville, and at least three Lexington collections 

 have been recorded (Branson and Batch 1969; 

 FNMH 2005). Specimens have also been not- 

 ed from Cincinnati, Ohio (Reed 1964; FMNH 

 2005), so it is not surprising that a large pop- 

 ulation of C. nemoralis was recently found in 

 northern Kentucky near Ft. Mitchell, Kenton 



Figure 4. Living wood snail from Kenton County, Ken- 

 tucky. These snails have four pairs of tentacles, with the 

 eyes located at the tips of the retractable upper pair. A 

 shorter pair of sensory tentacles bracket the snail's mouth. 



County (pers. obs.; see Figure 4). Surveys of 

 snail fauna from Mammoth Cave National 

 Park in Edmonson County and the Doe Run 

 Creek Area of Meade County did not list C. 

 nemoralis among the species found, perhaps 

 because these are less disturbed areas than 

 those noted above (Hubricht 1968; Kaplan 

 and Minckley 1960). 



ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE 



While considered one of the European ed- 

 ible snails, its small size, and the belief that 

 species with striped shells are inferior in flavor 

 have limited the popularity of C. nemoralis 

 among gastronomes (Love 11 1884). None the 

 less, the relative hardiness of this species com- 

 pared to larger species of escargot, the ease of 

 culture, and the nearly worldwide availability 

 has kept them on the lists of species with po- 

 tential for cultivation (Dees 1970; Thompson 

 1996). 



Though wood snails eat a variety of plant 

 materials, their apparent preference for dead 

 material has limited their impact as agricul- 

 tural pests (Dees 1970; Thompson 1996). Oc- 

 casional note has been made of the fact that 

 even in areas with many snails, they appear to 

 do little damage to the flora (Abbott 1950; 

 Brooke 1897; Judd 1953). However, in high 

 enough densities, they have the potential to 

 damage landscaping or crops. For example, 

 one Virginia population ranged from 50-100 



