Land Snail’s Life Cycle

The life cycle of all kinds of animals is defined as the succession of one generation to the next generations through reproduction.

In comparison to other land animals, snails’ reproduction procedure carries distinctive and unique patterns. Nonetheless, the stages of reproduction are identical as to that of any other animal. The procedure of reproduction comprises of different stages such as the mating stage, the gestation stage, then the egg dropping and hatching periods and finally the maturing period.

Snails are considered as sexually mature from as early as six weeks to five years, according to what type of snail species they are.

Land snails attract potential mates by engaging in a diverse range of courting rituals. Snails tend to mate anywhere from a few hours until half a day.

In contrast to other animals that make sounds to court each other, snails are unable to hear so sounds are not used in their courting rituals. Thus, they result in their sense of touch to court their mate. They are known to swath their mate in mucus they produce from their bodies before mating.

Surveys have shown that the mucus aids them in performing better in the actual mating procedure. Once they have mated, the snails go their separate ways.

It is noteworthy to mention that the body of a snail consists of both female and male sex organs. Although, snails have the urge to mate they do not fertilize. After the mating process both snails engaged in the procedure give birth to eggs.

During the reproduction, the majority of snails conceive approximately one hundred eggs. Certain species of snails are able to conceive up to four hundred snails. The eggs are incredibly tiny. Snails place their eggs in damp soil and cover them up. Snail eggs hatch and surface after a month.

The majority of land snails mate on a regular basis providing the habitat they are in allows them to survive. The snail eggs are placed beneath the top layers of soil where it is damp and moist, and where they are shaded and protected. Those seeking to view the eggs can simply dig the surface of the soil and find them lying in the ground.

Even though snails produce hundreds of eggs, only a number of these survive and reach maturity. The majority of eggs are influenced by weather conditions, for instance in the occasion of rain the eggs are washed away. Other factors influencing their birth are people who water their yards and gardens, where again they are washed away by the water. Further, predators may also hunt snail eggs.

When snails are born, their shell is tiny and soft, putting them in danger and prone to predator attacks. Further, baby snails are also very slow thus easily reached and attacked.

When baby snails emerge from their eggs, they are in urgent need of calcium. Although they are born with shells, their shells are fragile and soft. Calcium aids their shell to rapidly become harder and offer them the protection they need from predators. Snails tend to eat the actual egg that they hatched from, as it is full of calcium. As the snail matures, their shell grows also. The shell they had when they came to life remains with them as they grow.

Scientists determine the age of a snail by counting the visible rings on their shell. Research has shown that snails live a slow-paced life cycle. When a snail is fully-grown, its shell will create a little lip where it is attached to the rest of its body. The lip is created when a snail has reached its full size capacity. 

The Helix Aspersa Muller

General Description

The Helix Aspersa Muller, also referred to as the common garden snail, is one of the most well known snail species in the world. As all land snails, the Helix Aspersa belongs to the gastropod mollusk category. The Helix Aspersa snail is one of the most populated land mollusks in the world.

Although the Helix Aspersa snail is commonly known as the European Brown Garden Snail, they have been given various scientific names. Some scientists have named the species Cornu Aspersum, other refer to it as Cantareus Aspersus while others have named it Cryptomphalus Asperses.

The Helix Aspersa originally originates from Europe. Nonetheless, it has been introduced in other countries throughout the world where they are regarded as pests, destroying farmer’s crops and gardens.

The Anatomy of the Helix Aspersa Muller

Helix Aspersa snails have one lung from which it breathes air. Their soft body is a brownish colour, which is covered with slickly and slimy mucus substance.

Their shells have a yellowy or creamy colour with brown-coloured circled rings. When the snail matures its shell creates a lip on the edge which is attached on its body. Their shell’s height usually ranges from 1-1.4 inches and its width ranges from 1-1.5 inches.

The Helix Aspersa snail’s foot is made up of a flat muscular organ that aids it move. The snail moves by gliding on the ground. It exudes mucus to help it move more smoothly by reducing the friction when moving on rough surfaces. The mucus is the main reason snails leave a wet pattern of slime.

Generally, the Helix Aspersa snail is active at night and very early in the mornings before the sun is up completely. They are also active on rainy and cloudy days when the sun is not bright and shinning.

Several Helix Aspersa snails are known to hibernate during the winter season. Hibernation is most common amongst mature snails. During spring they emerge from hibernation and become active once again.

They move extremely slowly. Their fastest speed has been recorded at 1.3 centimetres every second.

The Helix Aspersa snail originally originated from the British islands, Western European countries and the Mediterranean. Through the passage of time they reached other countries also like the Middle East and North Africa.

Today they have been expanded in other countries like the USA, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Chile, Argentina to name a few. They are regarded as nuisance and pests as they destroy agricultural crops and plants. It is estimated that the snails were introduced into the new countries accidently when plants or vegetable imports reached these countries.

The Helix Aspersa garden snails are herbivores which feed on plants, crops, fruit and cereals. Their mouths are found under their tentacles. Their mouth is dotted with a toothed line known as the radula. The radula is rough enabling the snails to tear their food. The majority of molluscs have a radula.

Similar to other gastropod molluscs, the Helix Aspersa snails are hermaphrodites meaning their body have both male and female sexual organs. Although hermaphrodites can fertilise themselves, the Helix Aspersa snail needs to mate in order to fertilise.

The mating procedure of the snail is a complicated and interesting process. After courtship, the mating process lasts from four to twelve hours. While mating, the snails exchange a love dart which is a type of calcareous arrow. The purpose of the love dart has not been explained yet.

Approximately three to eight days after the mating takes place, both the snails deliver approximately eighty to one hundred eggs. Each snail then creates a nest in order to lay its eggs. They create the nest by digging the soil with their foot approximately 1-1.5 inches deep. Each snail can carry and deliver eggs up to six times every year. Each baby snail takes one to two years to fully mature and develop into an adult snail.

Predators of Helix Aspersa Snails

Lizards, frogs, worms, predatory insects and other snail species are common predators that feed on the Helix Aspersa snail. Several bird species like the duck is also one of the snail’s predators. 

Humans eat the Helix Aspersa snail. Most usually confuse this breed with the popular Helix Pomatia breed of snail which is known as the Escargot.

Although the Helix Aspersa Snail is a dangerous pest that destroys farmer’s crops and plants, its popularity is constantly increasing in the cosmetic world sue to their mucus. The snail’s mucus consists of regenerative features that are used in cosmetics in our days. 

Snail Market

The Consumption of Snail

The exact amount of snail meat consumed internationally cannot be accurately estimated due to the fact percentages of self-consumption are incredibly high. However, approximately 450,000-500,000 tonnes of snail are produced for commercial use globally.

Snail farms contribute roughly 13-15% of total snail production. The remainder of production is provided through tradition harvesting of snails. Out of the total production of snail, 47% are frozen, 23.5% are canned and 29.5% are sold as fresh snails.

The most dominating snail markets are found in European countries, especially in Spain, Italy and France. Nonetheless, the size of each market cannot be calculated accurately due to the fact there aren’t official documents or data to be used in order to determine the size. All the data gathered from a diverse range of resources, like snail farming organisations, snail industry institutes, agricultural centres, universities and local snail farming organisations, all supply dissimilar estimations.

Based on the data received by the various resources mentioned above it is estimated that that the French snail market consumes approximately 40 tonnes per year, the Italian snail market consumes 38 tonnes per year and the Spanish snail market consumes 20 tonnes per year.  

It is worth mentioning that all three dominating European snail markets lack in supply. France imports 80% of its snail consumption, whereas Italy imports 65% and Spain imports 55% respectively.

Due to the fact countries like the USA, China, Japan and Germany are increasingly incorporating Italia and French cuisine; smaller European snail markets like Belgium, Switzerland and Portugal are developing snail markets of their own.

The Future of Snail Production

The demand for snails is steadily increasing on an international level. Consequently, it is estimated that the USA, Chinese, Japanese and Northern European snail markets, will grow considerably in the next through years.

The reason the snail industry is gaining popularity is because more and more countries are incorporating the French and Italian cuisine. The elite society considers the consumption of snails as a sign of social status.

Furthermore, another reason snail consumption is increasingly growing is because snails are part of the Mediterranean diet which is internationally promoted as the healthiest diet.

The fact the elite and wealthy society consume snails so as to separate themselves from low social ranks and show their appreciation towards gourmet delicacies and overall people’s increased interest to follow healthy diets are the factors that led to the growth of the snail market.