Bug of the Week: Snail

From the archives:

No, it isn’t an arthropod this week.

Our family is fond of snails. In fact we have raised the common garden snail. It is exciting when they lay the pearly round eggs.

Then each hatches into a tiny perfect snail.

Edit:  For a close-up look inside a snail egg, check Beyond the Human Eye.

In spite of their reputation for being a slow, a “motivated” snail can actually move rather quickly.

Have you ever spent time watching a snail?

4 Comments

  1. Lisa

    hi!
    When you write your family is fond of snails, does that you have pet snails? If so, do you
    have a reference/guide to raising snails/keeping snails as pets that you recommend? (I’ll be doing an internet search after this entry but wanted to ask jic)….

    Thanks for your blog, I really do enjoy it.

  2. Roberta

    Lisa-

    I just posted some information for you.

    Please feel free let me know if you have any specific questions about “snail ranching,” as we called it. 🙂

    Good luck.

  3. Mike B.

    I watch them all the time! I find their eyes the most amazing part. Little black dots at the ends of their upper antennae are light sensors.

  4. Roberta

    We actually found one with a missing eye stalk once. We kept it for a few months, and believe it or not the eye stalk grew back!

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