Virginia Land Snails

Photo(s): Euconulus fulvus shell, showing the height of the final whorl greater than half the entire shell height, by Larry Watrous ©.

Click photo(s) to enlarge.

Euconulus fulvus (Müller, 1774)

Family: Euconulidae
Common name: Brown Hive

Identification
Width: 3.2 mm
Height: 2.5 mm
Whorls: 5+

The shell of Euconulus fulvus has a very large body whorl, measuring over half the shell’s full height, with a rounded margin (Pilsbry, 1946). The shell aperture is wide and rounded. The radial microsculpture on the shell is strong compared to other species, especially on the relatively large nuclear whorl. Faint spiral lirae may also be seen on the glossy surface.

Ecology
Euconulus fulvus can be found in moist leaf litter (Hubricht 1985).

Taxonomy
Synonyms for E. fulvus include Conulus chersina, C. fabricii, Euconulus trochiformis, Helix egena, H. fulva, H. mortoni, and Zonites (Conulus) fulvus.

Distribution
Euconulus fulvus is found across the upper Midwest of the United States and Canada, east to New England and the Canadian Maritimes, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Alabama. In Virginia it is found in the western half of the state (Hubricht, 1985).

NatureServe Global Rank: G5
NatureServe State Rank: S4

 

Meegan Winslow, Ken Hotopp 11/2012

Range Map