| Helix albescens | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Helicidae |
| Genus: | Helix |
| Species: | H. albescens |
| Binomial name | |
| Helix albescens Rossmässler, 1839 | |
Helix albescens is a species of large air-breathing land snail from eastern Europe belonging to the family Helicidae.
Helix albescens is a relatively small Helix species with globular shell, which is whitish to cream-brown, usually with five reddish-brown bands of which especially the second and third may partly fuse. Umbilicus closed, apertural margins may be brown. Characteristic is a very large protoconch (the embryonal shell). [1] The animal is yellow, usually with a dark, brown back.
On the genital system, typical characters are a missing diverticulum of bursa copulatrix (gametolytic gland) and a very short flagellum. [2]
Helix albescens is distributed in southern Ukraine, southwestern Russia (Ciscaucasia) and the Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan). [1] [3] The distribution of mitochondrial genetic lineages suggests that the species originates from Crimea. [4]
The species naturally occurs in shrubby habitats (with Christ's thorn, blackthorn, hawthorn, etc.). [5]
As all stylommatophoran land snails, H. albescens is a hermaphrodite. It lays its eggs in small clutches in cavities dug 5-6 cm deep into a damp soil. Egg laying takes many hours, because laying one egg can takes as much as two hours. [5] Recorded clutch size ranges between 6 and 25 eggs, with an average of 18 eggs. [5] Oval eggs are large relative to the animal, with a maximum diameter of 6-11 mm. [5]
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