Banded snails - fair enough for a snack
THE BANDED Snail is a very common and handsome garden snail and is very easy to identify because of its colourful shell and distinctive bands. However, the ground colour of the shell is highly variable; pale to dark yellow is the most common colour form in my neck of the woods followed by pale pink but colours ranging from pure white to dark brown have been reported from elsewhere.
While the ground colour of the shell varies, banding is even more variable. Five sharp- edged, black or brown bands are typical but any one of the five may be present or absent, either separate of joined, giving 89 possible combinations.
Thrushes and Blackbirds have a liking for Banded Snails so if you find a well- used anvil where the birds smash the snails open to get at the flesh inside you will be presented with a range of both shell colours and band combinations.
If you delve deeper into identifying the broken shells you will notice that the lip of the shell, that is, the part that comes in contact with the animal's soft body, comes in two different colours: brown and white. So, the Banded Snail is an umbrella term for two quite separate species: the Brown- lipped Snail and the White- lipped Snail.
The reason why the umbrella term Banded Snail is used is that lip colour is not always reliable; White- lipped Snails with black lips occur and white- lipped variants of the Brown- lipped Snail also occur. Accurate identification to species level involves dissection and examination of the cross- section of the animal's love dart.
So, as far as the amateur naturalist is concerned both species are best lumped together as Banded Snails.
Banded Snails have two pairs of tentacles: a lower or anterior pair that are short and an upper or posterior pair that are long and are tipped with eye- spots. To protect the eyes from damage the tentacles can be withdrawn by being inverted like the finger of a glove being pulled inside out.
The whole snail can, of course, protect itself by withdrawing into its shell. When it does so and goes inactive for long periods, as during hibernation, it secretes a film of mucous that dries to form a skin across the opening of the shell.
Banded Snails were widely eaten in France and Spain and it is believed that immigrating Stone Age peoples possibly introduced them to Ireland as a source of food.