Today, I was looking for endemic land snails adjacent to an oil field near Long
Beach, California.  The habitat was right but all I could find was one dead
shell...........Oh and, of course, many dozens of live, robust active Rumina
decollata.  For years, decollate snails have been sold in garden centers in
Southern California as a biological control for C. aspersa.  Now, they are not
uncommon in areas of secondary growth that seem to be prefered by other introduced
species.

I don't know if they feed on our native Helminthoglyptas but I can't imagine them
passing up a meal when it is available.  Clearly, we need to learn the lesson from
the destruction of endemic snail populations in Hawaii and other  Pacific islands:
We shouldn't use any biological controls for snail pests that we, in turn, can't
control.

Best regards,

Phil Liff-Grieff
[log in to unmask]
La Crescenta, California


Emilio Jorge Power wrote:

> "Harry G. Lee" wrote:
>
> > Dear Paul,
> >
> > By now you've received several timely and accurate responses to your report
> > of the cockamamie strategy put forth by the Rumina huckster.  I am
> > reasonably certain that Dr. David Robinson, who is the official mollusk
> > gatekeeper for the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture will bristle (if he hasn't
> > done so already) at this advertisement.  I shall Cc him this message.
>
> Hello!
> So what's new.  I pointed this out about a year and a half ago. These guys
> were and are on the internet selling the critters via US Mail. More than one
> "snail farm" is selling critters (R. decollata). It seems to be a popular thing
> in
> California. "Control your pests with this pest of pests!"
>
> Later,
>
> Emilio Jorge Power
>
> Please visit;
>
> "The Liguus Home Page"
> http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Gold/9440/liguus/lighompa.html
>
> "The Polymita Homepage"
> http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Gold/9440/polymita/polyhompg.html
>
> West Melbourne, Florida  USA