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Sticker of European snail
Bug card No. 1602 of 4,939

European snail

Xerotricha conspurcata
Eats: PlantsSnails, slugs and wormsGardens and meadowsNo legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

This European snail is tiny. Its brown, speckled shell is only about as wide as a pea, and it is covered in short little hairs. It breathes air and creeps along on one soft foot.

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
Around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, and now also in California and Washington
Length
6.8 mm (0.27 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 touching a snail, like after touching any wild animal.
What does it eat?
Like most land snails, it nibbles on plants with a rough tongue.
For real!Photo of European snail
Picture by Joris M. Koene and Hinrich Schulenburg. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

European snail about 6.8 mm long (0.27 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailneeds 6 minutes to cross a dinner table

How big is European snail compared to YOU?

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

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its shell is only about 7 millimetres wide and 4.5 millimetres tall.

2

Its shell has fine lines and short hairs, which is unusual for a snail.

3

When two of these snails meet to have babies, they poke each other with tiny darts called love darts.

4

It comes from Europe, but people have carried it by accident to California and Washington in America.

you asked

Most asked questions about European snail

?How big is this European snail?

Very small. Its shell is about 7 mm wide.

?Where does it live?

Around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, and now also in parts of the United States.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Xerotricha conspurcata
Named by
Draparnaud, 1801
Group
Snails, slugs and worms
Family
Geomitridae
Classification
Gastropoda > Stylommatophora > Geomitridae
Lives on
Europe, North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Xerotricha conspurcata (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 Joris M. Koene and Hinrich Schulenburg. CC BY 2.0, 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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