Species: Cepaea nemoralis
Common name: Banded wood snail, grove snail
Family: Helicidae
This is a highly variable snail. Shells range from brown to yellow to pink, with or without stripes.
Origin: Europe
Diet: Dead, usually dry, plant material.
Behavior: Good climber. Uses love darts to improve reproductive success. We’ve found that they really like eating paper.
Where in Oregon: Scattered from the Portland metro area to Canby. Similar exotics to look for: Cepaea hortensis, the white lipped snail, which is smaller. When mature, C. hortensis typically has a pale lip while C. nemoralis has a brown lip. Suspected C. hortensis should be reported to ODA.
Diet: Dead, usually dry, plant material.
Behavior: Good climber. Uses love darts to improve reproductive success. We’ve found that they really like eating paper.
Where in Oregon: Scattered from the Portland metro area to Canby. Similar exotics to look for: Cepaea hortensis, the white lipped snail, which is smaller. When mature, C. hortensis typically has a pale lip while C. nemoralis has a brown lip. Suspected C. hortensis should be reported to ODA.