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Sticker of Nicklin's shoulderband snail
Bug card No. 2998 of 4,939

Nicklin's shoulderband snail

Helminthoglypta nickliniana
Eats: PlantsSnails, slugs and wormsGardens and meadowsNo legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

Nicklin's shoulderband snail is a land snail that lives only in California. It carries its shell on its back and breathes air, just like a garden snail. It has a special trick for meeting a partner, using tiny darts.

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
Only in northern and central California
Top speed
about 0.03 km/h (0.02 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Wash your hands after touching a snail, like after touching any wild animal.
What does it eat?
Like other land snails, it eats plants.
For real!Photo of Nicklin's shoulderband snail
Picture by Lea, 1838. CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It lives nowhere else in the world except California.

2

When two of these snails meet to mate, they use tiny pointy darts called love darts.

3

Scientists have split it into five slightly different kinds, called subspecies.

you asked

Most asked questions about Nicklin's shoulderband snail

?Where does Nicklin's shoulderband snail live?

Only in northern and central California.

?Is Nicklin's shoulderband snail dangerous?

No. It is a harmless land snail.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Helminthoglypta nickliniana
Named by
I. Lea, 1838
Group
Snails, slugs and worms
Family
Helminthoglyptidae
Classification
Gastropoda > Stylommatophora > Helminthoglyptidae
Lives on
North America
Also known as
Coast Range shoulderband snail

Where the facts come from

  1. Helminthoglypta nickliniana (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 Lea, 1838. 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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