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Sticker of White-lip globe snail
Bug card No. 4762 of 4,939

White-lip globe snail

Mesodon thyroidus
Eats: PlantsSnails, slugs and wormsForests and woodsNo legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The white-lip globe snail is a land snail that carries a round shell on its back. Like all land snails, it breathes air and glides along on one big, slimy 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
North America, on land
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 most land snails, it nibbles on plants and leaves with a rough tongue.
For real!Photo of White-lip globe snail
Picture by William Greene Binney (1833-1909; U.S.A.), (scanned by Tim Ross). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It breathes air with a simple lung, so it lives on land and not in water.

2

Its eyes sit on the tips of its two long feelers.

3

Tiny worms called nematodes can live inside it as parasites.

you asked

Most asked questions about White-lip globe snail

?Is the white-lip globe snail dangerous?

No. It is a harmless land snail. Just wash your hands after you touch it.

?What does the white-lip globe snail eat?

Like most land snails, it eats plants and leaves.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Mesodon thyroidus
Group
Snails, slugs and worms
Family
Polygyridae
Classification
Gastropoda > Stylommatophora > Polygyridae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Mesodon thyroidus (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 William Greene Binney (1833-1909; U.S.A.), (scanned by Tim Ross). Public domain, 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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