The Field Museum has a couple of records for Trichia hispida collected
by Hubricht in New York (as well as a few others from Maine and Nova
Scotia from other collectors) and the Florida Museum has at least 1
record of Trichia collected from Illinois.

Jody Thompson

>>> [log in to unmask] 11/27/04 5:23 PM >>>
Dear Listers,

Awaiting the airport shuttle vehicle while concluding a short stay at
the
La Tourelle Inn on the outskirts of Ithaca, New York, I decided to take
a
look around a half-acre artificial "fishing pond" on the spacious
premises.  The setting was a picturesque hillside overlooking Lake
Cayuga
to the northwest. The weather was mild for a mid-November day; Ithaca
had
gotten very little snowfall this autumn.

Ignoring the few gawkers, I nosed around the pond's margins and easily
found a fair number of living landsnails on the lawn, especially under
hewn
larger weeds. There were four species - Novisuccinea ovata, Cochliocopa
lubrica, a small nearly black slug, and, most abundantly, a quarter-inch
globose snail I thought to be a Slit-mouth (Stenotrema) of some sort
because of its having Pussy-willow-bud-like texture. I popped the snails
into an evacuated (and fully thoroughly-rinsed) shampoo sampler supplied
by
the inn, pocketed the collection, and shuttled to the Ithaca
Airport.  While languishing in La Guardia, I inspected the shells more
closely and saw a densely hirsute Stenotrema-like periostracum accounted
for the shell's unusual surface but no evidence of the thickened lip and
constricted aperture that characterizes that North American genus. After
some reflection, my mind finally broke loose from the box, and I
considered
this critter might be a non-native species.

On arrival in Jax that night, despite temporary dismay with the Jaguars'
last minute loss to the Titans, I went to microscope and books and
sorted
out the identity of this probable vagabond. Conclusion: I had picked up
my
first (and two dozenth) Hairy Helicellid, a species native to northwest
Europe east through northern Asia to the Amur River. Taxonomically it is
known as Trichia hispida (Linnaeus, 1758) [literally: the Hairy (Latin),
Hairy (Greek) Snail]. Its phylogeny is like this: Mollusca: Gastropoda:
Stylommatophora: Pulmonata: Helicoidea: Hygromiidae: Hygromiinae.

I am unaware of any records outside ME and MA in the USA (plus NOVA
SCOTIA,
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, NEW BRUNSWICK, QUEBEC, and ONTARIO in Canada), I
thought I'd ask the likes of Tom Watters, Richie Goldberg, Larry
Watrous,
Aydin Orstan, and other listers if they can fill me in on this species'
peregrinations in North America.

Harry
Harry G. Lee
Suite 500
1801 Barrs St.
Jacksonville, FL 32204
USA
Voice: 904-384-6419
Fax: 904-388-6750
<[log in to unmask]>
Visit the Jacksonville Shell Club Home Page at:
www.jaxshells.org

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