Andrew,

That's very interesting & useful information. When we lived in Michigan, our
house had a detached garage the roof which, easily accessible with a small
folding ladder, had gutters around it that after rains turned into pools
filled with leaves. I used to find all sorts of aquatic creatures in there.

Maybe you should write a book, "Fauna & Flora of Rooftops".

Aydin

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kay Lavalier [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2000 15:54
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Roof Top Molluscs
>
>
> Andrew Vik
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Dear Aydin:
>
> In my trade as a Roof Repairman, I am often amazed at how
> many different living
> things can be found on the harsh rooftop environment. Plants
> that I have found
> include grasses and freshwater sedges, numerous weeds and the
> saplings of palm
> and hardwood trees.
> In some more or less permanent puddling areas I have seen
> frogs, tadpoles and
> small fish.
> Many insects, arachnids, and lizards live out their entire
> lives on the roof.
> Leaf filled gutters also contain very healthy looking earthworms.
> As for molluscs, I have found at least four different species
> of pulmonates
> while at work.
> One species, Drymaeus multilineatus, is arboreal and probably
> fell out of
> overhanging trees. The other three were ground dwellers
> (Polygyra cereolus,
> Bradybaena similis, and Subulina octona). I have found the
> first two species
> very high up on walls during wet weather, but I have never
> seen Subulina climb
> anything very high. Perhaps these small snails are so light
> that a good wind
> storm could deposit egg bearing adults on top of a building.
>
> Yours, Andrew
>
> Orstan, Aydin wrote:
>
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: G Thomas Watters
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]> STATE.EDU]
> > > Sent:
> Wednesday, March 29, 2000 07:54
> > > To:
> [log in to unmask]
> > > Subject: Re: Cocliocopa lubrica
> >
> > > I was once forwarded a jar of hundreds of Cochlicopa lubrica
> > > from a man who
> > > said there were millions of them in the wet leaves in the
> > > rain gutters of
> > > his house.
> >
> > That's interesting. How & why did they get up to his roof? I suppose
> > hatchlings are small enough to be wind blown.
> >
> > Aydin
>