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Helix albescens
Helix albescens is a species of large air-breathing land snail from eastern Europe belonging to the family Helicidae. DescriptionHelix albescens is a relatively small Helix species with globular shell, which is whitish to cream-brown, usually with five reddish-brown bands of which especially the second and third may partly fuse. Umbilicus closed, apertural margins may be brown. Characteristic is a very large protoconch (the embryonal shell).[1] The animal is yellow, usually with a dark, brown back. On the genital system, typical characters are a missing diverticulum of bursa copulatrix (gametolytic gland) and a very short flagellum.[2] Distribution and habitatHelix albescens is distributed in southern Ukraine, southwestern Russia (Ciscaucasia) and the Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan).[1][3] The distribution of mitochondrial genetic lineages suggests that the species originates from Crimea.[4] The species naturally occurs in shruby habitats (with Christ's thorn, blackthorn, hawthorn, etc.).[5] ReproductionAs all stylommatophoran land snails, H. albescens is a hermaphrodite. It lays its eggs in small clutches in cavities dug 5-6 cm deep into a damp soil. Egg laying takes many hours, because laying one egg can takes as much as two hours.[5] Recorded clutch size ranges between 6 and 25 eggs, with an average of 18 eggs.[5] Oval eggs are large relative to the animal, with a maximum diameter of 6-11 mm.[5] References
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