Andrew Vik
Tampa, FL., USA
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Aydin:

I've always thought it useful to collect the interlopers as well as the natives.
My West Florida land snail collection would have about 30% fewer species if I did
not collect exotics. Besides, it's interesting to track down just where these
little travelers originated from. There are snails from four other continents in
Hillsborough county alone.

Andrew

Aydin Orstan wrote:

> >Anyway, here's the rub.  Museum collections indicate that cereolus started
> >popping up all over in Florida after 1950.  Interior metropolitan areas,
> >roadsides, even inland counties in other southeastern states.  This great
> >range expansion corresponds with the big land development booms of Florida.
> > They are transported in plant pots and sod for people's yards and along
> >roadsides.
>
> Kurt, you are absolutely correct. I did some collecting in Florida around
> Tampa area last August. There were hundreds of live Polygyra in my in-laws'
> backyard. First I thought I had run into "native" populations. Then I found
> them in flower pots that had been bought in K-Mart & along road sides where
> grass had been planted, but they were absent from areas where there was no
> grass.  I found them on the campus of U. of Florida, but only where
> landscaping had been done. Weathered shells were on all beaches. After a
> while, you begin to wonder if there is any value in collecting these. Because,
> there is no way of knowing when a particular shell was brought to that
> location. It may have been years ago when the area was first developed or it
> may have been last spring. So, in my mind collections from such areas have
> little value if one is looking for local variations, etc. (But we weren't
> really discussing that, were we?)
>
> A.