>Perhaps Cepaea nemoralis?  It is an introduced species from Europe, is found
>in many areas of the United States, and comes in a variety of bright colors,
>many with dark banding.
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Doug Stemke" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 1:09 AM
>Subject: [CONCH-L] Memory of a BC (Canada) landsnail
>
>>I hope someone here can point me in the right direction on this one.
>>
>>Back in the late 70s when I was about 16 I was camping with my father
>>somewhere in 'South Central' BC, somewhere near the US boarder as closely
>>as
>>I can recall.  Anyway I went for a short hike and in a small bush or tree
>>near a field I vividly recall finding a landsnail that appeared to me to
>>be
>>almost tropical in appearance; it was bright yellow with a dark stripe
>>that
>>followed the whirl.  It had a compressed spiral rather like a European
>>Helix, but was smaller likely somewhere between 1-2 cm.  I didn't collect
>>the animal or the shell, but I just got to thinking about it and wondered
>>here if anyone might have some idea of what I might have found way back
>>then.

Could be C. nemoralis. I have collected this in Revelstoke. It and C.
hortensis (virtually impossible to separate on shell characters) are
both white with variable brown spiral bands; the periostracum is
smooth and varnishlike, giving a yellow cast to the shell. The
terminal varix can be either white or dark brown in both spp. The
spire is lower than in any Helix sp. Robert Forsyth (Royal Museum,
Victoria) tells me that he hasn't seen C. hortensis in BC. Of course
that doesn't mean that it doesn't occur there... Both species top-out
at about 2cm diameter.

Another possibility is the native Monadenia fidelis, which can reach
about c4cm diameter, larger than Cepaea spp. However it is largely
dark-brown with peripheral golden-tan band. It has a more depressed
spire than either Cepaea sp, and has coarse growthlines. But your
description sounds like Cepaea.
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin
New Zealand
Fossil preparator
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut
‚ Opinions stated are mine, not of the University of Otago
"There is water at the bottom of the ocean"  - Talking Heads

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