Amber snails

Common names: Amber snails

Scientific name: Succinea spp., Novisuccinea spp.

Counties in California where collected: 7 counties: Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, Riverside, San Francisco, Solano, Los Angeles (Roth and Sadeghian, 2006; Mc Donnell, unpublished data; Wilen, unpublished data).

Ecology: This is a semi-aquatic snail usually found in the wetter parts of nurseries such as drainage areas, on low areas of planting beds at the interface of wet and dry areas, on the container lip of well-watered plants and in foliage of groundcovers. Also in greenhouses in moist pots or under benches if algae or other weeds are growing.

Description: Amber snails are generally small, 2-20mm long (1/13-0.75”), but are characterized by a large body relative to the shell. The body is also unable to retract fully into the shell. The translucent shell is usually pale brown or amber (Kerney and Cameron, 1979). Identification of these snails to species is difficult because of variability in morphology and lack of information on species (Grimm et al., 2009)