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Sticker of Horntail snail
Bug card No. 2276 of 4,939

Horntail snail

Tanychlamys indica
Eats: PlantsSnails, slugs and wormsGardens and meadowsNo legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The horntail snail is a land snail with a shiny, see-through, pale brown shell. At the back end of its foot it has a small pointy horn, which gives it its name. It comes from India but has travelled to many other countries.

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
India and Bangladesh, and now also Egypt, Japan and Brazil, in gardens and fields
Length
1.6 to 1.9 cm (0.63 to 0.73 in)
the width of the shell
Top speed
about 0.02 km/h (0.01 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Wash your hands after holding one, like after touching any wild animal.
What does it eat?
It eats seedlings, fallen rotting leaves and even moss on garden walls. Sadly it also nibbles garden flowers and fruit plants like papaya.
For real!Photo of Horntail snail
Picture by Jjargoud. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Horntail snail about 1.9 cm long (0.73 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
as long as 3 grains of rice in a rowneeds 3 minutes to cross a dinner table

How big is Horntail snail compared to YOU?

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

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

A flap of its soft body reaches out of the shell and wraps against its side.

2

The mother digs a hole about 2 centimetres deep with her snout and foot, and lays her eggs in the damp soil.

3

Unlike many baby snails, its babies do not eat their eggshell. They do not eat at all until they are 4 days old.

4

It can live for about 4 years and lay around 200 eggs in that time.

5

It probably reached Brazil hiding with young citrus plants, and by 2024 it lived in 16 Brazilian states.

you asked

Most asked questions about Horntail snail

?Is the horntail snail a pest?

In some places, yes. It can eat garden plants and crops, so countries try to stop it from spreading.

?What does the horntail snail eat?

Seedlings, rotting leaves, moss and many garden and fruit plants.

?How big is the horntail snail?

Its shell is about 16 to 18 and a half millimetres wide.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Tanychlamys indica
Group
Snails, slugs and worms
Family
Ariophantidae
Classification
Gastropoda > Stylommatophora > Ariophantidae
Lives on
Asia, Africa, South America

Where the facts come from

  1. Tanychlamys indica (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 Jjargoud. 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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