Tawny glass-snail

Euconulus fulvus

Eats: Leftovers and dead things Snails, slugs and wormsForests and woodsNo legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The tawny glass-snail is a very tiny snail with a yellowish brown shell. Its shell is wider than it is tall, a bit like a little beehive. It lives in forests among fallen leaves.

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

Europe, including Great Britain, Ireland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine, in forests

Length

2.8 to 3.5 mm (0.11 to 0.14 in)

the width of the shell

Top speed

about 0.01 km/h (0.01 mph)

On foot, estimate

Can it hurt you?

Harmless

Harmless. Wash your hands after holding a snail, like after touching any wild animal.

What does it eat?

It nibbles on rotting leaves and tiny bits on the forest floor.

Photo of Tawny glass-snail — Picture by Müller, 1774. CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

small enough to sit on your fingernailneeds 6 minutes to cross a dinner table

How big is Tawny glass-snail compared to YOU?

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

How fast is it?

Tawny glass-snail about 0.01 km/h (0.01 mph)

A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)

A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)

A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

Its shell is only about 3 millimetres wide, smaller than a lentil.

The underside of its shell is silky and smooth.

It hides in leaf litter or under bits of dead wood in all kinds of forests.

Many snails need chalky ground for their shells, but this one can live without it.

you asked

Most asked questions about Tawny glass-snail

?How big is the tawny glass-snail?

Its shell is only about 3 millimetres wide.

?Where does the tawny glass-snail live?

In forests in Europe, under fallen leaves and dead wood.

For bug experts

Scientific name: Euconulus fulvus
Group: Snails, slugs and worms
Family: Euconulidae
Classification: Gastropoda > Stylommatophora > Euconulidae
Lives on: Europe

Where the facts come from

Euconulus fulvus (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 Müller, 1774. CC0, 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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