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A POPULATION STUDY OF AN EQUATORIAL LAND SNAIL, LIMICOLARIA MARTENSIANA (ACHATINIDAE)
Author(s) -
OWEN D. F.
Publication year - 1965
Publication title -
proceedings of the zoological society of london
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0370-2774
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1965.tb05188.x
Subject(s) - land snail , snail , biology , gastropoda , ecology , population , breed , equator , geography , latitude , demography , geodesy , sociology
Near the equator in Uganda, the herbivorous land snail, Limicolaria martensiana , occurs in well‐defined populations. These populations may be very large and the snails may in places occur at exceedingly high densities. The snails breed all the year round, but with two peaks that correspond with the two annual dry seasons. They enter dispause whenever the weather is very dry. The size of adult snails seems environmentally determined and it varies in different populations : the largest snails occur on soil rich in calcium. The shells of the snails are highly variable and polymorphic in colour and pattern. In particular, there is a streaked form that occurs in all populations, and four distinct pallid “dilute” forms. The relative frequency of the forms varies markedly in different populations. Polymorphism is greatest at high population densities and the snails are all streaked where they are rare. Polymorphism can be distinguished in Pleistocene fossil populations.