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Sticker of Jumping snail
Bug card No. 2424 of 4,939

Jumping snail

Ovachlamys fulgens
Eats: PlantsSnails, slugs and wormsGardens and meadowsNo legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The jumping snail is a tiny snail with a thin, shiny, see-through brown shell. Snails are slow, right? Not this one. It can push off with its tail like a catapult and suddenly leap several centimetres.

Fun fact: this one is not an insect at all, it has no legs! But kids find it on every bug hunt, so it lives in Bug Wiki too.
Lives in
First from the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, now also in Central and South America, Florida, Hawaii and Southeast Asia
Length
6 to 7 mm (0.24 to 0.28 in)
the width of the shell
Top speed
about 0.01 km/h (0.01 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Dangerous: look, do not touch
It can carry a tiny worm that can make people ill. Look, do not touch, and tell a grown-up if you find one.

Watch out! Read how to stay safe on Venom Wiki →

What does it eat?
It eats plants, especially orchids, and also leaves of avocado, mango and other garden plants.
For real!Photo of Jumping snail
Picture by Jeffrey W. Lotz, Division of Plant Industry (DPI), Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) or Division of Plant Industry (DPI), Florida . Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Jumping snail about 7 mm long (0.28 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailneeds 6 minutes to cross a dinner table

How big is Jumping snail compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The end of its tail has a little horn, and the back of its foot works like a spring when it jumps.

2

It most likely travelled around the world hidden in pots of orchids.

3

It can lay eggs when it is only 42 days old, and it does not even need a partner.

4

It lays its eggs in little groups of three in the soil or among fallen leaves.

5

When the weather is dry, it hides in the leaf litter and takes a long rest.

you asked

Most asked questions about Jumping snail

?Can snails really jump?

This one can. It flicks its tail like a catapult and jumps several centimetres.

?How big is the jumping snail?

Its shell is only about 6 to 7 millimetres wide.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Ovachlamys fulgens
Named by
Gude, 1900
Group
Snails, slugs and worms
Family
Helicarionidae
Classification
Gastropoda > Stylommatophora > Helicarionidae
Lives on
Asia, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania

Where the facts come from

  1. Ovachlamys fulgens (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Jeffrey W. Lotz, Division of Plant Industry (DPI), Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) or Division of Plant Industry (DPI), Florida . Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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