Life History and Feeding Habits of the Giant African Snail on Saipan 1 
W. Harry Lange, Jr . 2 
The giant African snail, Achatina fulica 
Ferussac, has recently received considerable 
attention as an economic threat to the people 
occupying certain islands included in the 
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands because 
of its catholic taste for fruits and vegetation. 
In addition, its introduction (but not its 
establishment, to date) into California on 
heavy equipment returned from Pacific is- 
lands has brought to our attention its status 
as a potential threat to agriculture in the 
continental United States. 
Achatina is very abundant on Saipan, 
where it causes extensive damage to many 
types of fruit and vegetable crops. The pres- 
ent study was an attempt to secure additional 
information concerning its habits, life his- 
tory, feeding preferences, natural enemies, 
and seasonal activity. This information may 
prove of value not only in relation to the 
possible introduction of natural enemies, but 
also in determining the economic potential- 
ities of this snail should it ever become estab- 
lished on the mainland of the United States. 
During this study an opportunity was avail- 
able to make limited observations of this 
snail in the Philippines (Luzon), Siam, 
Malaya, and Java. A survey was made of the 
other terrestrial and fresh-water snails of 
Saipan inasmuch as a knowledge of these 
1 These investigations were undertaken as a proj- 
ect of the Pacific Science Board of the National 
Research Council under the direction of their In- 
sect Control Committee for Micronesia. These 
studies were aided by a contract between the Of- 
fice of Naval Research, Department of the Navy, 
and the National Academy of Sciences (NR161 
472). 
2 Assistant Entomologist, Division of Entomol- 
ogy and Parasitology, University of California, 
Davis, California. Manuscript received February 
9, 1950. 
species is an important adjunct to a biolog- 
ical or chemical control program. 
Acknowledgments : I am greatly indebted to 
J. Bequaert, of the Museum of Comparative 
Zoology, Harvard, for assistance in manu- 
script preparation, and to Albert R. Mead of 
the University of Arizona for assistance with 
the literature. Yoshio Kondo of the Bernice 
P. Bishop Museum and R. Tucker Abbott of 
the United States National Museum kindly 
determined the native snails collected on 
Saipan. Miss Marie C. Neal of the Bishop 
Museum and Harold St. John of the Univer- 
sity of Hawaii determined the plants. Harold 
J. Coolidge of the National Research Coun- 
cil and C. E. Pemberton of the Pacific Science 
Board have given advice and encouragement 
during these investigations. To Dan B. Lang- 
ford I am indebted for permission to use his 
notes dealing with the life history of the giant 
snail on Guam. To Ignacio Benevente of 
Saipan I am indebted for his assistance in the 
field and for the supplying of pertinent infor- 
mation. Captain G. L. Compo supplied cli- 
matological information and transportation. 
Field activities were made possible through 
Commander R. A. Wilhelm and Frank 
Brown. Robert Reif assisted in rearing snails 
on Saipan. 
DISTRIBUTION 
This is a species which is native to the east 
coast of Africa, from Natal and Mozambique 
in the south to Kenya and Italian Somaliland 
in the north 3 (Mead, 1949:38); from there 
3 Bequaert (personal communication, February 
14, 1950) reports that the known distribution is 
only from northern Mozambique (17° S. ) in the 
south to southern Abyssinia and the southern half 
of Italian Somaliland in the north (7° 30' N.). 
Inland it extends 150 to 500 miles from the coast, 
going farthest inland in the northern section of 
the range. 
C 323 ] 
