Roman snail
The Roman snail is a big land snail with a round, creamy brown shell. It is one of the largest snails in Europe. It moves slowly through woods and bushes and can live for many, many years.
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Fun facts
It can live up to 20 years, and a few have reached 35.
In winter or in very dry weather, it closes its shell with a chalky lid to stay safe.
A snail lays a clutch of 40 to 65 eggs in the soil, and the babies hatch after three to four weeks.
It takes two to five years to grow up.
In England it is protected by law, so nobody may collect or sell them there.
Most asked questions about Roman snail
?How long does a Roman snail live?
Often around ten years, up to 20 years, and the oldest known reached 35.
?How big is a Roman snail?
Its shell is about 3 to 5 centimetres wide.
?What do Roman snails eat?
Plants. The young ones are especially fond of stinging nettles.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Helix pomatia
- Group
- Snails, slugs and worms
- Family
- Helicidae
- Classification
- Gastropoda > Stylommatophora > Helicidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
- Also known as
- Burgundy snail, Escargot
Where the facts come from
- Helix pomatia (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Waugsberg. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same 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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