ScientificName: Helix aspersa
Description: 1 ½-inch, brown shell when full grown. When traveling, the slimy, brown, wormlike body and antennae are visible.
Habitat/Food: Snails prefer moist areas of the garden and come out at night to feed on the foliage of ornamental and vegetable plants. They leave slime trails on plant where they have been active.
Life Cycle: Most snails are hermaphrodites, which means that they posses both sex organs. These organs mature at different times, so they will have both male and female phases of life. Adults lay eggs in the soil during the spring and they hatch within in a few weeks. It takes the average garden snail two to three years before it is fully grown.
Organic Control: There are a few slug and snail specific organic controls such as the product Sluggo?.
Interesting Fact: When dry conditions prevail, the snail seals itself to various objects or closes the shell opening with a parchment like epiphragm. With the advent of humid conditions, the snail again becomes active.