The Life Cycle of The Life Cycle of Snails, Semi Slugs Snails, Semi Slugs

and Slugsand SlugsInvertebrates: Animals without backbonesInvertebrates: Animals without backbones

99% of Biodiversity99% of Biodiversity

Lorelle Holcroft and Dr John StanisicLorelle Holcroft and Dr John Stanisic

Adult Snail- often their shell now has a lip]

Snails lay eggs

Snail babies hatch

Snails grow into sub-adults

The Life Cycle of the Snail

Adult Slug

Slugs lay eggs

Snail babies hatch

Slugs grow into sub-adults

The Life Cycle of the Slug

Growing UpGrowing Up

Snails take about two years to be mature for reproduction

Snails spend many hours courting before they mate. They twist themselves around each other and cover themselves in frothy slime..

Snails may lay up to 85 Snails may lay up to 85 eggseggs

Snails lay eggs most often during the warm and damp weather. It can be as often as once a month or every 6 weeks.

Laying EggsLaying Eggs

Each snail will go search for a soft ground to dig and lay its eggs. The snail lay its eggs in a hole in the soil or leaf litter.

Each snail can lay an average of 85 eggs

They hatch in 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the temperature and moisture of the soil

When they When they hatch…hatch…

The first thing that a newly hatched snail does is to find food.

It will eat whatever that is left of its eggshell too.

It will also eat any eggs that have not hatched yet.

How the Snail How the Snail GrowsGrows

As the snail grows, its shell grows too in a spiral shape. The new shell is added at the opening of the shell. The part of the shell the baby snail was born with, ends up in the middle of the spiral.

The baby snail shell stays at the top of the grown up shell

Engandgered Species of Engandgered Species of SnailSnail

BOGGOMOSS SNAILAdclarkia dawsonensis

Central QueenslandCentral Queensland

Engandgered Species of Engandgered Species of SnailSnail

MITCHELL’S RAINFOREST SNAIL

Thersites mitchellae

Northern NSWNorthern NSW

http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl?wanted=fauna#other_animals_endangered

Lorelle Holcroft and Dr John StanisicLorelle Holcroft and Dr John Stanisic