Grape snail adaptation to the environment. Characteristic features of the mollusk type. Grape snail food

Grape snail (Helix romatia) is a terrestrial species of gastropod mollusk belonging to the order of lung snails and the helicid family. Today it is the largest snail in Europe.

Description of the grape snail

The body of the grape snail, along with other representatives of the class Gastropods, is externally divided into such parts as the shell and the body, consisting of a leg and a head. The internal organs of the snail are surrounded by a special protective mantle, some of which is quite clearly visible even from the outside.

Appearance

The shell of an adult individual has an average diameter in the range of 3.0-4.5 cm, and its volume is quite sufficient to fully accommodate the body. The shell is characterized by a spiral curvature of 4.5 turns. Shell coloration can vary from a light yellowish brown to an attractive brownish white.

Five dark and the same number of light stripes run along the entire length of the first two or three whorls. The saturation of staining directly depends on the soil and climatic conditions in the habitat, the characteristics of the diet and the intensity of lighting.

It is interesting! The shell of the snail is distinguished by a highly visible ribbing, which increases the total surface area and significantly increases the strength indicators.

As a rule, the total length of the leg of a fully grown individual does not exceed 3.5-5.0 cm, but such a mollusk may well stretch up to 8-9 cm. to dark grey.

The surface of the body is covered with numerous wrinkles, the areas between which have the appearance of quadrangles. This feature allows the mollusk to retain moisture very effectively.

A pair of tentacles is located above the mouth opening, and their length may vary. The size of the labial or olfactory tentacles is 2.5-4.5 mm, and the size of the eye tentacles does not exceed 10-20 mm. Vision allows the grape snail to distinguish well the intensity of illumination, as well as to see objects located at a distance of no more than 10 mm.

Along with numerous other representatives of the Gastropoda class, the snail has a digestive system represented by an ectodermal foregut and an endodermal midgut. The type of breathing of the above-ground mollusk is pulmonary. The heart is located above the hindgut, and includes the left atrium, ventricle, and pericardium. Snail blood is colorless. The reproductive system of the grape snail is hermaphroditic, therefore, cross-fertilization is carried out to obtain offspring by a mollusk.

Lifestyle and character

In the warm summer period, during the daytime, grape snails try to hide in a shady and humid corner of a garden or forest, and also often clog up in various cracks or holes. At nightfall, the snail leaves its hiding place and goes in search of food.

Snails that live in central Europe fall into a natural hibernation in winter and summer a couple of times a year. Hibernation is similar to the torpor that a terrestrial mollusk falls into when climbing inside its shell. In a period that is too cold or hot, the snail remains inside its shell, and the abundantly secreted mucus serves as a fairly dense protective film for the mollusk.

Lifespan

Grape snails are not long-lived pets. As a rule, in conditions of competent care, the average life expectancy of such a domestic mollusk is no more than eight years. However, in Sweden, a record life expectancy was recorded. In this country, the grape snail won fame, which lived for a little over three decades.

Range and habitats

The natural, natural habitat of the grape snail is represented by valleys and mountains, the edges of deciduous forests, park areas, meadows and ravines overgrown with shrubs, as well as vineyards and soils that have an alkaline reaction.

On dry and hot days, the very moisture-loving snail is able to hide under stones or in the shade of vegetation, and often buries itself in cool, damp moss. Such an unusual pet may well be plunged into a state of stupor by high and too low temperature conditions.

It is interesting! In the so-called hibernation, grape snails may well fall not only individually, but also in large snail colonies, and the weight loss of the mollusk at this time is about 10%.

With the onset of the spring period, grape snails wake up en masse, but, as practice shows, such mollusks spend most of their lives exclusively in a state of hibernation, and wakefulness takes no more than five months a year. Before plunging into natural hibernation, a large colony of snails is able to gather in one place, choosing for this purpose the space under a stone or fallen leaves.

In summer, such snails, just before sunrise, stick to the trunk of a tree or on a bush, which allows the mollusk to easily wait out the midday heat. In the place where such a snail crawled, one can easily see the trail of mucus left by it. The snail, thanks to its mucous glands, is able to glide very smoothly over the surface. The presence of mucus protects the body of the snail from getting all kinds of damage.

Grape snails as a pet are so unpretentious that their content is quite accessible even for beginners. The acquisition of accessories and housing for the maintenance of such a snail will also not be ruinous.

Choosing an aquarium and filling

To keep a grape snail at home, you can use a glass or plastic container with a fairly large bottom area and very good ventilation. A moistened mixture is laid on the bottom based on six parts of soil and one part of activated carbon. It is very important to regularly clean the windows and walls, as well as remove the mucus from their internal space. It is recommended to provide a pet with daytime temperature at the level of 20-22 o C, and at night - within 19 o C.

A terrarium or aquarium for keeping a grape snail should be equipped so that the terrestrial mollusk feels like in natural habitats. It is quite possible to decorate the inside with green small twigs or almost any living plant that is securely fixed in the ground.

It is also very important to install a shallow reservoir inside for bathing such an unusual pet and some moistened moss. To strengthen the shell of a snail, you need to pour a small amount of limestone into the aquarium or terrarium. The terrarium should be tightly covered with a lid, which will not allow the snail to crawl out. In the lid, it is imperative to make medium-sized holes through which a sufficient amount of air will flow.

Important! The habitat of the domestic grape snail is very important to keep constantly moist, performing mandatory spraying of all internal surfaces from a conventional household spray bottle a couple of times a day .

The diet of the grape snail

Nutrition of a grape snail at home should be as close as possible to the natural environment. The herbivorous ground mollusk readily eats almost any vegetation, including grass, foliage, and even humus.

Care and hygiene, cleaning

In the process of keeping snails at home, it is very important to completely eliminate the risk of damage to the shells, and also observe the following care rules:

• use only fresh and high-quality plant foods for feeding, as well as make the pet's diet as varied as possible;
• regularly give snails crushed eggshells, as well as any other components containing a sufficient amount of calcium;
• daily, preferably in the evening, spray the walls of the terrarium and the soil with clean water at room temperature from a spray bottle;
• carefully monitor the indicators of the level of humidity, avoiding the strong drying of the bedding soil or its waterlogging with the accumulation of a large amount of liquid at the bottom;
• the water in the bath installed in the terrarium must be replaced daily;
• replacement of fillers and soil inside the terrarium or aquarium is carried out as necessary, partially or completely, depending on the degree of contamination;
• terrarium for grape snails should not stand in direct sunlight, as well as near heating appliances.

It should be noted that the maximum possible cleanliness must be maintained inside the terrarium or aquarium with grape snails, which will reduce the risk of infection of pets with nematodes or mites, as well as various pathogenic microflora that provokes the development of diseases.

Snail breeding

All snails are hermaphroditic creatures, which combine not only male, but also female sexual characteristics. In order to lay eggs, adult and fully mature individuals of the grape snail must necessarily exchange germ cells with other individuals. There are two periods of reproduction of the domestic grape snail:

• from March to June;
• from the first decade of September to the onset of October.

First of all, the maturation of male germ cells is carried out, which are transferred to partners and stored inside special seed receptacles until the maturation of female germ cells. Mating games, as a rule, continue for several minutes or hours, during which grape snails feel partners, wrap their bodies around them and squeeze their soles.

Subsequently, the snails lay eggs surrounded by a gelatinous substance that allows them to be fastened into cocoons or clusters. When born, newborn snails have transparent shells with only a couple of coils. With age, the number of such turns on the shell gradually increases.

Scientists have created a technique that allows you to penetrate the secrets of the work of skin mechanoreceptors.

Section through a section of human skin with a hair follicle (Eye of Science photo).

One of the most poorly understood aspects of the activity of the nervous system is skin sensitivity. In general terms, it is clear that mechanoreceptors are responsible for it, but how they are responsible for it, how they are organized, how they are formed in the process of individual development - there is still no answer to all these questions. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University (USA) tried to lift the veil of secrecy over the problem of skin reception and achieved some success in this.

Experimenting on mice, scientists were able to understand the initial principles of the organization of mechanosensitive neurons and their relationship with hair follicles. The result was obtained thanks to the method created by the researchers, which made it possible to identify different populations of highly sensitive mechanoreceptors. As the researchers write in the journal Cell, different types of receptors register different touches, but among them, according to scientists, there are three main types, and each has its own combination of mechanosensory nerve endings. Until now, such a correspondence between a neuron and a receptor has not been seen here: the processes of neurons that innervate certain follicles come from the spinal cord itself and reach almost a meter in length. Due to their own set of nerve endings, mechanoreceptors associated with hair follicles register a certain type of touch.

In this case, the location of the receptors themselves is subject to a strict order. They are arranged in groups, information from which is collected in one channel: neurons that accumulate information from closely located hair follicles are combined in the spinal cord into a single “wire” that already goes to the brain. There are supposedly thousands of such mechanosensitive wires in the spinal cord, and each receives information from an area with about a hundred hairs. Such a strict ordering makes it possible to encode the touch signal, which is then read and analyzed by the brain.

True, as the researchers note, whether their data can be extended to humans is a big question. We do not have such a developed hairline as a mouse. It remains to be hoped that such receptor systems are sufficiently conserved, at least among mammals, and are generally repeated in all species. But, as the authors emphasize, the main result of their work is the creation of a technique that allows you to see the relationship between highly sensitive mechanoreceptors. With its help, it became at least clear how to study the formation and organization of these receptors in the skin and how to encrypt and transmit a nerve impulse from them to the brain.

(Helix pomatia) is a terrestrial gastropod mollusk, a representative of the lung snail order of the helicid family. Europe is considered the birthplace of grape snails, where it is found almost everywhere. The grape snail is the largest snail in Europe. You can meet a grape snail in thickets of trees and shrubs, in glades, forest edges, gardens, parks, meadows. Evidence moves by sliding on the sole of the foot. Mucus is secreted from the front of the snail's leg, making it easier for the snail to glide over various surfaces. Since ancient times, grape snails have been eaten.

Description of the grape snail.

Snail body consists of a body and a shell. The body of a snail consists of a head and a leg. The internal organs of the snail are located in the mantle of the molluscs. The mantle is a kind of bag. In terrestrial mollusks, the mantle serves as a lung sac. Part of the mantle is visible from the outside.

Curved in a spiral 4.5 turns to the right, and when the snail gets out of the shell, it moves in the shell in a clockwise direction. The spiral of the snail shell is convex and lies in different planes.

Alternating dark and light stripes run along the length of the first 2-3 large coils of the shell. The color of the snail shell consists of light yellow and yellow-brown flowers of different shades and can be lighter or darker. The color of the snail shell depends on the environment and habitat. This allows the snail to camouflage itself from enemies and be less visible in this type of terrain. The color of the snail shell can change depending on the food the snail eats.

The volume of the shell of an adult grape snail allows the snail to completely hide its entire body in the shell. The shell diameter of an adult evidence is about 4-5 cm. Outside, the snail shell is slightly ribbed. Thanks to these ribs, the sink becomes stronger and lighter, and its surface becomes slightly larger, which allows a little more moisture to accumulate on the surface.

Leg and body. In an adult grape snail, the leg length usually reaches up to 5 cm in length. A snail can stretch its leg up to 8 cm in length if it needs to stretch out strongly, moving from one leaf of a plant to another. Grape snails have a very elastic body. Such a flexible body allows the snail to masterfully bend and stretch, overcome the air space between the leaves of plants when moving along them.

The body of grape snails can have different colors. Just as there can be different colors of the shell. Usually the body color of the grape snail is beige with brown tints. The body color of a snail can change depending on the food the snail eats.

The body of the snail has its own and unique pattern. In rare cases, the pattern on the snail's body is barely noticeable or absent altogether, and in these cases the color of the snail's leg is usually monochromatic. The entire body of the snail is covered with wrinkles and folds. Between the folds, fates are formed that are close in shape to quadrangles. Wrinkles on the body of the snail significantly increase the surface area of ​​the leg. Wrinkles accumulate more moisture, which is so necessary for the snail. After all, a snail needs a lot of mucus to move, and a snail needs a lot of water to produce mucus. Wrinkles on the body and ribs on the shell contribute to the accumulation of as much moisture as possible.

snail slime transparent, viscous, dries quickly and shines in the air. Snails need a lot of water to produce mucus. Mucus provides the snail with gliding and serves as a lubricant for the path along which the snail crawls.

Tentacles. The grape snail has 2 pairs of tentacles of different sizes. They are located above the mouth of the cochlea. The anterior labial tentacles are 2 to 5 cm long and perform the function of smelling. The posterior eye tentacles are 1 to 2 cm long. At the ends of the posterior short eye tentacles are the eyes of the snail. The eyes of a snail do not distinguish colors, but they distinguish the intensity of light and allow the snail to see at a distance of about 1 cm. The tentacles of the snail are very, very mobile, they can take different positions relative to each other. All snail tentacles are very sensitive. When touched with an object, the tentacles instantly fold inward. The rear eye tentacles react not only to touch, but also to bright light.

The internal structure of the snail. The snail has a digestive system, pulmonary respiration, a heart and colorless blood. The snail has a nervous system, a reproductive system, and an excretory system.

Lifestyle of grape snails. The grape snail leads an active lifestyle from spring to autumn. With the onset of the first cold weather, the grape snail digs into the ground to a depth of about 25-40 cm and falls into suspended animation. During anabiosis, the mouth of the shell is clogged in the snail with a lime plug called the epiphragm. The thickness of the epiphragm is different and depends on the ambient temperature and climate.

The epiphragm is a layer of mucus frozen in air in the form of a film. The protective film appears due to the compression of the snail in the shell, while mucus is released, and it quickly hardens at the edges of the shell. The body of the snail is deeply drawn into the shell and a layer of air is formed between the body and the epiphragm. Thus, snails are protected from adverse conditions: from cold or from drought. For wintering, grape snails often choose the same places and shelters.

What does a grape snail eat? Grape snails are herbivores, they eat a variety of living vegetation. Grape snails eat grapes and grape leaves, cabbage, stonecrop (hare cabbage), horse sorrel, plantain, dandelion, burdock, nettle, horseradish, strawberry leaves and many other plants. Most of all, the snail loves grapes, which is why it got its name - grape snail. To build a shell, a snail needs calcium salts.

How does a snail breathe? The grape snail breathes with the help of a lung. The respiratory opening in the cochlea is scientifically called the pneumostomy. The pneumostome is a special respiratory organ in pulmonary snails and is part of the respiratory system. This breathing hole is located among the folds of the mantle, on the side where the whorls are located at the shell. The snail breathes through this breathing hole. In grape snails, this hole opens and closes at intervals of about 1 minute.

How long do grape snails live? The length of life largely depends on the living conditions of the snail. In nature, snails live for about 7-10 years. In favorable conditions and with a good set of circumstances, grape snails can live longer, live up to 20 years or more, if they are not eaten by predators. In favorable home conditions, snails can live for more than 20 years. To keep snails at home, use a mollusk.

Anabiosis in snails. Grape snails fall into hibernation, the duration of which lasts 3-5 months, depending on the place where the snail lives. Before the onset of suspended animation, the grape snail selects a place convenient for it and attaches itself to it with its foot. Then, holding on with the tip of its foot, the snail gradually rolls up its body into a shell and at the same time secretes mucus. Mucus quickly hardens and turns into a protective layer, such a thin film called epiphragm. Further, when the epiphragm tightly closed the hole, connecting with the edges of the shell, the snail completely removes the leg and folds it in the shell. Between the epiphragm and the body of the evidence, a small layer of air forms in the shell.

How do snails crawl? The snail moves along the surface on its muscular leg. With the help of muscle contraction, the cochlea pushes off the surface and slides over the mucus that it secretes to facilitate movement and reduce friction. The glands that secrete mucus in the snail are located in the front of the body. Snails crawl slowly, but they can crawl both on a horizontal surface and on a vertical one. It is easiest for a snail to crawl along smooth horizontal surfaces, large plant leaves, glass, smooth wet stones. To move on the ground, the snail needs to make more effort and spend more mucus on movement.

After the movement of the snail, a trail of dried mucus remains behind it. On such traces of snails, snails themselves can also be detected, since snails crawl rather slowly, and if the tracks are fresh, then the snail is somewhere nearby.

How fast do snails crawl? Snails crawl slowly. The maximum speed of the cochlea is about 7 cm per minute.

Snail breeding. How do snails reproduce? Grape snails are hermaphrodites and have both male and female reproductive organs. Thanks to this, all grape snails can give offspring. Snails mate in spring and autumn. When a snail seeks to mate, it behaves unusually, fussing, climbing, stopping, raising its head, as if it had lost something and searching diligently. When two snails find each other and meet, they start making love games that last about 2 hours, after which the snails crawl away. During mating, 2 snails press against each other with the soles of their feet. The genitals of snails are located slightly below the oral cavity, look like flexible white outgrowths that appear and fold inward during intercourse. During sexual intercourse, the respiratory openings of snails are open almost constantly.

The birth of grape snails. Snails are born from eggs. After love games, snails lay eggs and place them in the ground at a depth of 5-10 cm. The snail egg is soft and white in color, spherical in shape with a diameter of 5-7 mm. A small snail is formed in the egg. The shell diameter of a small grape snail at the time of birth is about 2 mm. While in the egg, the small snail, after being fully formed, begins to eat the remnants of the egg shell and then begins to slowly crawl up to the surface of the earth. It takes up to 10 days for a small snail to overcome this 5-10 cm long path. On the way, a small snail feeds on soil and the substances that this soil contains.

All about grape snails. Grape snails have many enemies. Various beetles can crawl into the respiratory opening of the snail and get inside the snail. Grape snails feed on moles, hedgehogs, lizards, shrews and even some types of predatory snails. Eat grape snails and people. Since ancient times, people began to eat snails and even breed them for these purposes. Currently, snail farms have been built in a number of countries. All favorable conditions have been created on these farms for the rapid growth and reproduction of grape snails. On such farms, snails are grown for further sale. As pets, many people keep grape snails at home. To do this, they make a molluskaria - this is such a glass house for snails in which they live. Under favorable conditions, grape snails can live for quite a long time.

The grape snail feeds on grape leaves and shoots. In addition to grapes and grape leaves, the grape snail also eats many other plants and crops and is therefore considered a dangerous agricultural pest. Grape snails are exterminated as a pest, and in some countries there are even bans on the importation of grape snails into the country. In some European countries, the grape snail is a rare specimen and the grape snail is protected by law from the extermination of snails.

Grape snails in cooking. In a number of countries, grape snails are eaten. The meat of snails contains about 10% protein, 30% fat, 5% carbohydrates, vitamins B6 and B12, calcium, magnesium and iron. It is believed that the taste of the meat of grape snails is much better than the taste of the meat of other types of edible snails.

Snails are prepared by baking them in the oven with a shell in vegetable oil and using seasonings. Snails processed for cooking in shells are placed on a baking sheet, vegetable oil is poured and placed in an oven preheated to 200 degrees. Cook until the oil boils and a golden color appears. Before cooking in the oven, snails are washed, shells and bodies are cleaned, and they are prepared in a special way for cooking.

Snail shells can be used multiple times to cook a dish. Escargot is a famous gourmet French dish cooked in the oven from grape snails, as well as from edible snails of other species.

Special signs of grape snails. Grape snails have a light brown shell with a diameter of about 4 cm.

Snail relatives. Snails have relatives slugs or in other words slugs. Slugs, unlike snails, do not have shells. In addition to slugs, snails also have other relatives of mollusks, coils, pond snails and others.

Snail riddle. Whose body consists of a head and a leg in a shell?

Below on the site page you can see large and beautiful photos of grape snails. To enlarge the photo, you need to click on the photo with the mouse and a large photo will open in a new window.

Large beautiful photos of grape snails:

In the photo, a prominent stonecrop and a grape snail

Pictured is a beautiful grape snail

Pictured is a dexterous grape snail

In the photo, a drawing on the body of a snail

Pictured is the head of a snail

Pictured is a snail and a snail shell

The photo shows a grape snail close-up

In the photo, the snail unfolds on a leaf

Pictured is a grape snail

Pictured is a grape snail

In the photo, the snail is looking for a way

Pictured is a grape snail

Pictured is a grape snail

Pictured is a grape snail

In the photo, a grape snail from above

Pictured is a grape snail on a leaf

Pictured is a grape snail from behind

In the photo, a relative of the snail is a slug

Plan
Introduction
1 Description
1.1 Appearance
1.1.1 Sink
1.1.2 Leg and trunk
1.1.3 Tentacles

1.2 Internal structure

2 Physiological features
2.1 Nutrition
2.2 Breathing
2.3 Movement
2.4 Anabiosis
2.5 Breeding

3 Hatching
4 Natural enemies
5 Grape snail and man
5.1 Breeding
5.2 Application
5.2.1 In heraldry
5.2.2 In cooking
5.2.3 In culture
5.2.4 In medicine

5.3 Harm to agriculture

Bibliography
grape snail

Introduction

Grape snail (lat. Helix pomatia; large snail, cap snail, Burgundy snail, apple snail, Roman snail, moon snail, edible snail) is a terrestrial gastropod mollusk of the order of lung snails of the helicid family.

It is believed that the birthplace of the grape snail is Central and South-Eastern Europe. Since ancient times, people have used grape snails as food, and they were not a delicacy, and people of any social status used them as an affordable and healthy food.

The species has settled in all but the northern parts of Europe and on the coast of the Baltic Sea. It lives in thickets of bushes, on light forest edges, in gardens, parks. The snail is in an active state from spring to the first cold weather, after which it burrows into the soil to a depth of 30 cm and falls into suspended animation. As a rule, winters in the same shelters. During anabiosis, the mouth of the shell is closed with a lime plug - an epiphragm, the thickness of which depends on the severity of winter time.

In nature, a grape snail lives on average 7-8 years, but can often live up to 20 years if it is not eaten by a predator. The recorded record is 30 years, however, in this case, the individual was kept at home.

1. Description

1.1. Appearance

in the main figure h.aspersa, not h.p. The body, like that of all members of the class, is externally divided into a shell and a trunk. In the latter, a leg and a head are distinguished. The internal organs are surrounded by a mantle, part of which is protruded from under the shell to the outside.

Sink

The average shell diameter of an adult individual is 3-4.5 cm; its volume is sufficient to completely accommodate the entire body. The shell is spirally curved; has 4.5 turns lying in different planes (the so-called. turbocoil); twisted to the right; spins clockwise. Such shells are called dexiotropic.

Shell color varies from yellow-brown to brown-white. Along the entire length of the first 2-3 whorls there are 5 dark and 5 light stripes. The color of the shell in some individuals is darker, in others it is lighter. This saturation depends on the habitat of the individual and is related to the amount of solar radiation released to the area. Also, the coloring is associated with the background of the environment, i.e., it is intended for disguise from enemies. The color of the shell can change depending on what kind of food the individual consumes.

The shell is ribbed. This increases the surface area, which allows you to accumulate more moisture. The ribs also give the sink greater strength and, in addition, thanks to them, the sink weighs less.

Leg and torso

The usual leg length of an adult is 3.5-5 cm, however, the animal can stretch out strongly, up to 8-9 cm.

The body of the snail is very elastic. Its color is not the same in different individuals, as is the color of the shell. Usually the body color is beige with a brown tint, less often dark gray. It has its own unique pattern. In some cases, snails are devoid of such a pattern, or it is almost invisible, so the color of their legs is uniform. Body color can change in one individual when it eats different foods.

The body is completely covered with wrinkles, the areas between them look like quadrangles. Wrinkles increase the surface area of ​​the leg and retain moisture.

tentacles

Above the mouth opening of the snail there are two pairs of tentacles. The length of the front tentacles - labial - ranges from 2.5 to 4.5 mm. They have an olfactory function. The length of the posterior tentacles - eye - is from 1 to 2 cm. At the end of the latter there are eyes, all of whose receptors contain the same photopigment, which is the cause of the color blindness of the animal. However, the eyes are able to distinguish not only the degree of light intensity, but also objects at a distance of up to 1 cm.

The tentacles are very mobile. The rear ones can be located relative to each other at an angle greater than the deployed one. The anterior tentacles are less mobile, changing position only in the vertical direction, descending and rising; usually form an obtuse angle with each other. Both pairs are very sensitive: in case of accidental contact with an object, the tentacles instantly retract inside. The eye tentacles also react negatively to very bright light.

1.2. Internal structure

Like all members of the class, the digestive system of the grape snail is divided into an ectodermal foregut and an endodermal midgut. Breathing is pulmonary. The heart, located above the posterior intestine, consists of the left atrium and ventricle and is surrounded by the pericardium. The blood is colorless. The nervous system is scattered-nodal, consists of several ganglia. The excretory system consists of one kidney, which communicates at one end with the pericardium, and at the other opens into the mantle cavity near the anus. The reproductive system is hermaphrodite, cross fertilization.

2. Physiological features

2.1. Nutrition

Grape snail is herbivorous; It feeds on both living vegetation and plant remains. Uses leaves of grapes and wild strawberries, cabbage, horse sorrel, nettle, burdock, lungwort, dandelion, plantain, radish, horseradish. To build up the shell, the animal needs calcium salts. There are also cases of eating food of animal origin. Individuals emerging from eggs during the first time feed only on substances contained in the soil.

2.2. Breath

The snail breathes with the help of a lung. The respiratory opening - the pneumostome - is located between the folds of the mantle, on the same side as the whorls of the shell.

Under normal conditions, the breathing hole closes and opens approximately 1 time per minute, with high humidity it is less active. The increase in the number of openings and closings of the respiratory hole is directly dependent on the increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air.

2.3. Movement

The grape snail moves with the help of its muscular leg. With the help of muscle contractions, the animal, sliding, repels itself from the surface. When moving, mucus is released, softening friction, facilitating movement on the substrate. The glands that secrete mucus are located in the front of the body. The average speed of movement is about 1.5 mm per second.

2.4. Anabiosis

Anabiosis in a grape snail lasts up to 3 months. Under the natural conditions of Belarus - at least 5 months, while mollusks with an anabiosis period of less than 60 days under the experimental conditions further differed in reduced fertility or did not produce eggs at all. It can settle both on a horizontal (for example, on the ground under a stone) and on a vertical one ( on the walls of buildings, on the side glass of a mollusk at home) surfaces.

With the lower part of the leg - the sole - the individual is attached to the substrate, after which it folds into the shell. Still holding onto the surface with the tip of its foot, the snail covers the space between the surface of the substrate and the edges of the shell mouth with a film of mucus, after which it removes the rest of the leg, closing the hole with folds of the mantle. The film freezes, turning into an epiphragm.

2.5. reproduction

Grape snails mate in spring and early autumn. An individual striving for mating is easy to detect by its behavior: it crawls, as if looking for something, stops, stretches its body. Two snails, thus finding each other, go on to the "love game" that immediately precedes copulation.

During the direct act of fertilization, the individuals are pressed against each other by the soles. In both individuals, on the right side of the body, just below the oral cavity, elastic white outgrowths appear - the genitals. The latter are constantly changing shape: either sharply and quickly removed, then smoothly reappear. Respiratory openings during intercourse are very dilated and almost do not close. The heads of the snails are pressed against each other and are in a circular motion. As soon as the genitals of the snails come into contact with each other, the first ones grow rapidly to enormous sizes. Individuals sometimes crawl in different directions. Following this, the mating process continues. On average, the act lasts about 2 hours.

Having reached the peak of their excitement, the snails connect the genitals. At this time, the exchange of male sex cells begins to occur. After a short period of time, the partners remove the genitals and disperse.

3. Hatching

Grape snails hatch in the ground, at a depth of 5-10 cm. At the time of hatching, the shell diameter is 2-2.5 mm, while the diameter of a spherical egg is about 5-7 mm. The egg is soft and white in color. The snail, fully formed, eats the remains of the egg shell and slowly begins to crawl up. It reaches the surface in 8-10 days; all this time, the snail feeds on the soil and the substances contained in it.

4. Natural enemies

The natural enemies of the snail are hedgehogs, shrews, lizards, moles and some other animals. Also natural enemies are various types of crawling beetles, which can crawl inside the grape snail through the respiratory hole, and some types of predatory snails.

5. Grape snail and man

5.1. Breeding

Grape snails have been bred since ancient times. According to Pliny the Elder, he was the first to breed them Fulvius Lippin .

Titles: grape snail, giant snail, cap snail (st.), Burgundy snail (st.), apple snail (st.), Roman snail, moon snail, edible snail.

Area: Central, South-Eastern Europe (up to 2000 m above sea level). Introduced to South America.

Description: grape snail - one of the largest land snails in Russia. Terrestrial gastropod mollusc of the stalk-eyed order. The body is asymmetrical, with a clearly visible head and a wide flat leg. On the head are two pairs of tentacles and a pair of eyes. The snail shell is spirally curved, forming 4.5 turns. Breathing air with the help of a lung.

Color: monophonic, usually orange-yellowish color.

The size: the height of the snail shell is up to 45 mm, the width is 47 mm.

The weight: 22 - 45 years

Lifespan: 6-8 years old. In Sweden, a case of life expectancy up to 35 years has been registered.

Habitat: mountains and valleys, deciduous forests, forest edges, meadows, parks and ravines overgrown with shrubs, vineyards with alkaline chalky or limestone soil.

Enemies: hedgehogs, mice, predatory insects (beetles, beetles, crickets, flies, centipedes), frogs and toads, skunks, weasels, birds, lizards, snails.

Food/food: grape snail is a herbivore. It eats green foliage (wild strawberry leaves, plantain, horse sorrel, dandelion, lungwort, burdock, nettle, horseradish, cabbage, radish) and humus. The snail's diet contains over thirty species of wild and cultivated plants.

Behavior: the grape snail is moisture-loving. In dry weather, it hides under stones, in the shade of plants or in damp moss. In a dry summer, the grape snail becomes lethargic, inactive, falls into a stupor. During this period, the snail climbs into the shell, pastes over its mouth with a thin transparent film. As soon as the rains come, she comes out of hibernation. The remains of the film are eaten away, carefully cleaning the edges at the mouth of the shell. The number of heart beats drops to one beat per minute. It usually spends the day hiding in its shell, coming out to feed at night. The snail is most active during the night and after a rainstorm. The maximum speed of movement - 7 cm/min. The grape snail leaves for wintering when the air temperature drops to 19-12 "C. It winters (sometimes in groups) in specially built wintering chambers, digging into the soil to a depth of 5-10 cm. During hibernation, the snail loses about 10% of its weight, which is restored through 4-6 weeks after awakening In the spring, when the air temperature is +6-8 "C, it awakens and leaves its winter shelter. It can tolerate low temperatures, for example, temperatures of -7 "C for several hours. After hibernation, it is especially susceptible to colds and drought. In central Russia, the grape snail is awake for 4.5-5 months. The shell can withstand pressure up to 13.5 kilograms .

Reproduction: hermaphrodite. After mating, the snail can retain spermatophores for a year. For laying eggs, it digs a hole or uses natural shelters (the bases of plant stems). After a hole of the required depth is dug, the snail begins to carefully finish the walls of the nest. They are compacted, the soil is thrown to the surface through the intestines. The clutch contains about 40 pearly white, shiny eggs (diameter 4-7 mm). After the masonry is completed, the hole is filled up. After the breeding season, about one third of the snails die.

Season/breeding period: March-June, sometimes there is a second peak - in early autumn.

Puberty: 12-18 months.

courtship ritual: the desire to mate can be determined by behavior. The grape snail crawls slowly, as if looking for something, often stops and stands in one place for a long time, slightly raising the front of the body. If two such snails meet, they immediately start the "love game". Both of them stretch upwards one against the other and take a characteristic position, touching with areas of the sole, and feeling each other with tentacles. These movements stop after a short time, the snails fall and, tightly pressing against each other with their soles, remain motionless for 15-30 minutes. After a period of rest, the game resumes again. This whole process lasts about two hours, until the snail, which has reached greater arousal, sticks a love arrow into the body of its partner, which also enhances his arousal. After a short pause, the act of copulation takes place, in which each snail plays the role of both male and female. Only after the exchange of spermatophores do the snails spread in different directions.

Incubation: 3-4 weeks.

Offspring: the eggs hatch into adult-like snails. Young snails have a small smooth transparent shell, in which there is only one and a half curls. After 8-10 days, young snails leave the nest and crawl to the surface in search of food. Under favorable conditions, snails grow very quickly - within a month they can become four times larger than at birth. Of all snails born, only about 5% reach sexual maturity.

Literature:
1. Great Soviet encyclopedia
2. V. Petrushkevich. snail
3. "Life of Animals", vol. 2. ed. L.A. Zenkevich, Moscow 1968