---
title: "What the sources say about the Garden Snail | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "48 claims from the Garden Snail profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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---

# What the sources say about the Garden Snail (*Cornu aspersum*)

> 48 claims from the Garden Snail profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Garden Snail](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/garden-snail/)

## Cerullo et al. (2023). Comparative mucomic analysis of three functionally distinct Cornu aspersum Secretions. Nature Communications.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41094-z

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| It makes three different kinds of mucus | secretes three mucus |
| Three kinds of slime | secretes three mucus (note: heading) |
| one shielding the animal from environmental threats, one adhesive mucus from the pedal surface of the foot, and a lubricating mucus from the foot too | secretes three mucus—one shielding the animal from environmental threats, one adhesive mucus from the pedal surface of the foot, and another pedal mucus that is lubricating |
| The adhesive mucus is used to create the epiphragm, the persistent glue that maintains bonds between the snail's shell and the surface it sits on. | Epiphragmin was identified in the adhesive mucus, which is used to create the epiphragm—the persistent glue that maintains bonds between the snail’s shell and substrate (note: substrate rendered as 'the surface it sits on') |
| The garden snail, Cornu aspersum, is a slime factory. | secretes three mucus (note: framing sentence; the three mucus and the foot's constant secretion carry the claims) |

## Snails and Slugs. UC Statewide IPM Program, University of California.

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7427.html

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A night-feeding garden snail that seals itself shut to wait out hot, dry weather. | Snails and slugs are most active at night and on cloudy or foggy days. (note: tagline; sealing has its own claim) |
| Living plants and decaying plant matter | Snails and slugs feed on a variety of living plants and on decaying plant matter. (note: stats.diet) |
| Seals itself off with a parchment-like membrane in hot, dry weather | During hot, dry periods snails estivate (hibernation during hot weather) by sealing themselves off with a parchment-like membrane. (note: stats.superpower) |
| The foot is a muscle that glides the snail along. | These mollusks move by gliding along on a muscular “foot.” |
| It constantly secretes mucus, which later dries to form the silvery slime trail. | This muscle constantly secretes mucus, which facilitates their movement and later dries to form the silvery slime trail |
| Snails are most active at night and on cloudy or foggy days. | Snails and slugs are most active at night and on cloudy or foggy days. |
| On sunny days they seek hiding places out of the heat and bright light. | On sunny days, they seek hiding places out of the heat and bright light. |
| They feed on a variety of living plants and on decaying plant matter, scraping with rasp-like tongues. | Snails and slugs feed on a variety of living plants and on decaying plant matter. They create irregular holes with smooth edges on leaves and flowers by scraping with their rasp-like tongues. |
| It seals itself off with a parchment-like membrane and often clings to a tree trunk, fence or wall. | by sealing themselves off with a parchment-like membrane. They often attach themselves to tree trunks , fences, or walls. |
| estivates, which is hibernation during hot weather | snails estivate (hibernation during hot weather) |
| In cold weather it hibernates in the topsoil instead. | During cold weather, snails and slugs hibernate in the topsoil. |
| Every garden snail has both male and female parts, so any adult can lay eggs after mating with another snail. | All land slugs and snails are hermaphrodites, so all are able to lay eggs after mating with another individual. |
| A snail lays an average of 80 pearly white eggs at a time, and it can do that up to 6 times a year. | Adult brown garden snails lay an average of 80 spherical, pearly white eggs at a time into a hole in the soil. They can lay eggs up to 6 times a year. |
| They scrape holes in leaves and flowers with rasp-like tongues. | They create irregular holes with smooth edges on leaves and flowers by scraping with their rasp-like tongues. |
| Seedlings and herbaceous plants are the main targets, and ripening fruits close to the ground, such as strawberries and tomatoes, are also at risk. | snails and slugs are primarily pests of seedlings and herbaceous plants. They are also serious pests of turfgrass seedlings and ripening fruits that are close to the ground, such as strawberries and tomatoes. |
| Citrus trees are especially at risk, and silvery slime trails are the giveaway. | Citrus are especially susceptible to damage. |
| silvery slime trails are the giveaway | Look for the shiny slime trails snails and slugs leave behind. |
| At night, the snail goes to work. | Snails and slugs are most active at night |
| Night shift | Snails and slugs are most active at night (note: heading) |
| In hot, dry weather a garden snail seals itself off with a parchment-like membrane | During hot, dry periods snails estivate (hibernation during hot weather) by sealing themselves off with a parchment-like membrane. (note: vibe.reason; stats.superpower) |

## European brown snail (Cornu aspersum). EDDMapS, University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.

https://www.eddmaps.org/species/subject.cfm?sub=9156

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| native to Britain, western Europe and the lands around the Mediterranean and Black Seas | Cornu aspersum is native to Britain, western Europe and regions that surround the Mediterranean and Black Seas. (note: stats.habitat; Guiller 2012 says 'most probably native to north Africa', so the site follows EDDMapS and attributes nothing finer) |
| EDDMapS says that under favorable conditions it may mature within a year, and that adults can normally live about a year. | Under favorable conditions Cornu aspersum may mature within a year and adults can normally live about a year. (note: lifespan; attributed to EDDMapS and kept to its own qualifier, beside EDIS regional maturity figures so the two do not read as a contradiction) |
| but it has been distributed widely worldwide, on purpose and by accident. | Cornu aspersum has been distributed widely worldwide, intentionally (as an escargot species) and accidentally. |
| It was originally introduced for escargot dishes, meaning snails cooked to eat, and it has escaped confinement and become established as a pest. | Cornu aspersum is an edible species and was originally introduced for escargot dishes. It has escaped confinement and become established as a pest. |
| The USDA and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency both considered it a plant pest in 2009 | The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA, 2009) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA, 2009) consider Cornu aspersum to be a plant pest. (note: dated to the 2009 documents EDDMapS cites, since the page gives no later date) |
| quarantines were set up to stop the snail being imported in plant and soil material | Quarantines have been established to prevent importing the snail in plant and soil material. (note: the undated state list was cut: a current legal state needs a dated source) |
| During dry periods the snails can become dormant and sealed within the shell, and they can remain in that state for many months. | During dry periods the snails can become dormant and sealed within the shell. They can remain in this dormant state for many months. |
| A year in the life | adults can normally live about a year (note: heading) |
| it can stay dormant for many months | During dry periods the snails can become dormant and sealed within the shell. They can remain in this dormant state for many months. (note: vibe.reason) |

## Gaitán-Espitia et al. (2013). Variation in Thermal Sensitivity and Thermal Tolerances in an Invasive Species across a Climatic Gradient: Lessons from the Land Snail Cornu aspersum. PLoS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0070662

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Gardens and parks | were collected by hand from gardens and parks in each one of the three localities (note: stats.habitat) |
| In a Chilean study, adults picked for roughly the same body mass averaged 4.21 grams and were thought to be under a year old. | Six hundred adult snails of approximately same body mass (mean ± SD; 4.21±0.63 g, with an approximate age of less than one year) [48] were collected by hand from gardens and parks in each one of the three localities (note: weight; the three localities are in Chile (La Serena, Constitución, Valdivia); the adults were selected for similar mass, so this is a study mean, not a species average) |
| weightKg: 0.004 | approximately same body mass (mean ± SD; 4.21±0.63 g (note: adults collected from the field) |

## Guiller et al. (2012). Tracing the Invasion of the Mediterranean Land Snail Cornu aspersum aspersum Becoming an Agricultural and Garden Pest in Areas Recently Introduced. PLoS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0049674

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| introduced across the world | the Mediterranean mollusc Cornu aspersum is one of the most widely spread land snails in the world (note: stats.habitat) |
| One study calls it one of the most widely spread land snails in the world. | the Mediterranean mollusc Cornu aspersum is one of the most widely spread land snails in the world |
| It was brought to South Africa as food in 1855 | The species has been introduced in South Africa as a food animal in 1855 |
| though one expert thinks it probably arrived there by accident long before | However, Herbert suggests that C . a. aspersum was probably introduced accidentally long before this, perhaps since 1650–1700. (note: the source's own hedge on the 1855 record) |
| the Pacific's oldest recorded introduction was in New Caledonia in 1879 | In the Pacific, the oldest introduction recorded was in New Caledonia in 1879 |
| Spread across the world | one of the most widely spread land snails in the world (note: heading) |

## Walther (2026). Cornu aspersum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2026: e.T156890A220141565.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2026-1.rlts.t156890a220141565.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Not Evaluated | Cornu aspersum (Europe assessment) (note: stats.conservationStatus. The 2024 assessment (read in Chrome 2026-10-12) is Europe scope, so the global field stays Not Evaluated. Precedent: honeybee.) |
| The IUCN Red List's 2024 Europe assessment rates it Least Concern | assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2024. Cornu aspersum is listed as Least Concern. (note: scope Europe per the citation line) |
| with a stable population trend | SCOPE OF ASSESSMENT Europe POPULATION TREND Stable |

## Cornu aspersum (European brown garden snail): Fact sheet. Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

https://inspection.canada.ca/en/plant-health/invasive-species/nematodes-snails-and-others/european-brown-garden-snail/fact-sheet

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The adult shell is 32 to 38 mm across and 29 to 33 mm tall. | 32 to 38 mm in diameter, 29 to 33 mm in height. (note: size; under 'Adult shell:' on the CFIA fact sheet (modified 2014-01-14). EDIS IN396 gives 28 to 32 mm diameter from Burch 1960; the newer CFIA page wins) |

## Dekle and Fasulo. Brown Garden Snail, Cornu aspersum. University of Florida IFAS Extension, EDIS IN396.

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN396

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Maturity takes about two years in southern California but about 10 months in South Africa. | Maturity requires about two years in southern California. In South Africa the snails take about 10 months to become mature (note: maturity, scoped to each region as the source does) |