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Sticker of Kentish nun snail
Bug card No. 2442 of 4,939

Kentish nun snail

Monacha cantiana
Eats: PlantsSnails, slugs and wormsGardens and meadowsNo legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The Kentish nun snail is a medium-sized land snail. It carries a round shell on its back and breathes air, just like we do. It lives in gardens and green places in Europe.

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
Western and central Europe, including Britain, and Egypt
Top speed
about 0.03 km/h (0.02 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?
Like most land snails, it eats plants.
For real!Photo of Kentish nun snail
Picture by Gargominy O.. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its eggs are tiny, less than 2 millimetres across.

2

It is a newcomer in the Czech Republic, where it has lived only since 2009.

3

It belongs to a family of snails often called hairy snails.

you asked

Most asked questions about Kentish nun snail

?Is the Kentish nun snail dangerous?

No. It is a harmless snail. Just wash your hands after touching it.

?Where does the Kentish nun snail live?

In Europe, for example in Britain, France, Italy and Germany, and also in Egypt.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Monacha cantiana
Group
Snails, slugs and worms
Family
Hygromiidae
Classification
Gastropoda > Stylommatophora > Hygromiidae
Lives on
Europe, Africa
Also known as
Kentish snail, Kentish garden snail

Where the facts come from

  1. Monacha cantiana (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 Gargominy O.. CC BY 4.0, 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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