Virginia Land Snails

Photo(s): Vertigo oscariana shell by Jeff Nekola ©.

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Vertigo oscariana Sterki, 1890

Family: Vertiginidae

Identification
Height: ~1.8 mm
Width: ~0.8 mm
Whorls: 5

Vertigo oscariana is easily distinguished among the regional pupillid land snails by its small, yellow shell that tapers both towards the apex as well as the aperture, and with its columellar lamella being shaped like a broad, vertical sheet.

Ecology
Individuals live in well-decomposed accumulations of broadleaf and pine litter in mesic–wet woodlands and shaded rock outcrops. Habitats range from montane hardwood forest in the Appalachians to oak–pine–bay bottomland woodland along the Gulf Coast to acid pine forest in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas (Nekola & Coles 2010). Hubricht (1985) reported it from the undersides of palmetto leaves. Along the Maury River in western Virginia it is found in litter upon wooded limestone outcrops

Distribution
Vertigo oscariana ranges across the southeastern USA, extending from eastern Texas and the Missouri Ozarks east through south Florida and the Delmarva Peninsula. In Virginia this species is reported only from the far western and eastern counties. However, given its distribution in surrounding states, it undoubtedly occurs across all of Virginia as well.

NatureServe Global Rank: G4
NatureServe State Rank: S2S4

 

Jeff Nekola 9/2012

Range Map