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Sticker of Girdled snail
Bug card No. 1908 of 4,939

Girdled snail

Helix cincta
Eats: PlantsSnails, slugs and wormsGardens and meadowsNo legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The girdled snail is a big round snail with a brown stripy shell. The edge of its shell opening is brown. It first came from the area around Syria and Turkey.

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
Syria and Turkey, and now also Cyprus, Aegean islands, northeastern Italy and the Adriatic coast
Top speed
about 0.03 km/h (0.02 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?
Like its snail cousins, it eats plants and scrapes them with its rough tongue.
For real!Photo of Girdled snail
Picture by H. Zell. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It lives in four separate areas that are far apart from each other.

2

It most likely came from Syria or Turkey. In the other places it was probably brought by people.

3

It has some close cousins that look so alike that scientists are still not sure if they are really different kinds of snail.

you asked

Most asked questions about Girdled snail

?Where does the girdled snail live?

Around Syria and Turkey, and also on Cyprus, Aegean islands and the northern Adriatic coast.

?Is the girdled snail dangerous?

No. It is a harmless plant eater.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Helix cincta
Group
Snails, slugs and worms
Family
Helicidae
Classification
Gastropoda > Stylommatophora > Helicidae
Lives on
Asia, Europe

Where the facts come from

  1. Helix cincta (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 H. Zell. CC BY-SA 3.0, 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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