Limicolaria flammea

Limicolaria flammea is a species of tropical air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Achatinidae.

Limicolaria flammea
an adult Limicolaria flammea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
informal group Sigmurethra
Superfamily:
Achatinoidea
Family:
Achatinidae
Subfamily:
Limicolariinae
Genus:
Limicolaria
Species:
L. flammea
Binomial name
Limicolaria flammea
(Müller, 1774)

Distribution

This species is native to West Africa: Nigeria.[1]

It was found as an introduced species in Tuas South, on the tropical island of Singapore, for the first time in 2006.[1] The spread of Limicolaria flammea is potentially damaging to the multi‐billion dollar horticultural industry in Singapore.[1] Malacologists have proposed the urgent eradication of this species in Singapore by handpicking; this is partly in order to prevent the spread of this species into the rest of tropical Asia based on the precautionary principle.[1]

Three shells of Limicolaria flammea of different ages, adult on the left. Scale bar is 1 cm.

Ecology

There is a paucity of information on the biology and ecology of Limicolaria flammea in the wild.[1]

Oil palm and cocoa plantations are also mentioned as suitable habitat for Limicolaria flammea in Nigeria.[1]

In laboratory conditions, the snails start laying eggs at 5 months old; clutches of up to 56 eggs are produced.[1]

In laboratory experiments, Limicolaria flammea fed readily on potato, apple, lettuce, and carrot, and it is likely that the snails are unselective phytophagous, as has been reported for its congeners.[1]

This species is probably predominantly nocturnal.[1]

References

This article incorporates CC-BY-3.0 text from the reference[1]

  1. Tan S. K. & Clements R. G. (2011). "Limicolaria flammea (Müller, 1774), another potentially invasive African land snail in tropical Asia. Tropical Conservation Science 4(1): 97‐102. abstract, PDF.
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