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Garden Snail | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Garden Snail

Cornu aspersum

GastropodaGardens, hedgerows, dunes and cultivated land in temperate climates

Field profile

The common garden snail is a hermaphroditic land snail with a brown, banded shell about three centimetres across. It is nocturnal and moisture-dependent, sealing itself behind a dried mucus membrane in dry or cold weather. It is both a familiar garden pest and the species farmed as petit-gris.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2023-01-29

Garden Snail

Garden snails stab each other before mating

Before copulating, each snail drives a calcareous dart into its partner's body. The dart carries mucus with hormone-like substances that improve the shooter's chances of fathering offspring, and it is not a Cupid's arrow of courtship.

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