Virginia Land Snails

Photo(s): Views of a Punctum vitreum shell by Dan Dourson ©.

Click photo(s) to enlarge.

Punctum vitreum (H.B. Baker, 1930)

Family: Punctidae
Common name: Glass Spot

Identification
Width: ≈1.2 – 1.4 mm
Height: ≈0.8 – 0.9 mm
Whorls: 4+

Punctum vitreum has a shell sculpture of fine radial riblets that are set widely apart. Between these are smaller ribs of growth, crossed by spiral striae (Pilsbry, 1948). The shell is heliciform, depressed, with a thin lip and open umbilicus, as are other Punctum. The shell spire is lower than in P. minutissimum, and the shell is more yellow and transparent.

Ecology
This species lives in forest leaf litter, often with P. minutissimum (Hubricht, 1985).

Taxonomy
A synonym is P. pygmaeum.

Distribution
Punctum vitreum is reported from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, west to Iowa and south to Texas, however, it is absent from the deep Southeastern states such as Georgia and Florida. In Virginia, Punctum vitreum is reported in widely scattered counties around the state.

NatureServe Global Rank: G5
NatureServe State Rank: S3

 

Ken Hotopp 1/2013

Range Map