The brown-lipped snail (Cepaea nemoralis), also known as grove snail or wood snail, is one of the most common species of land snail in Europe. It was first introduced to North America in the mid-1800s, both intentionally and accidentally. In fact, one scientific article I came across called them “invited invaders”. They are now relatively common in the northeastern United States and around the Great Lakes into Canada. 

Brown-lipped snails come in many color forms, ranging from reddish to yellowish to brownish, often with stripes spiraling around its shell. In fact, their striking shell coloration is the main the reason people intentionally released these snails into their gardens – essentially as decorations. Although highly variable, brown-lipped snails do have a unifying feature; as their name would suggest, they usually have a brown band around the opening of their shells.

The species name, “nemoralis”, means ‘of the woods’ or ‘inhabiting woods/groves’, but this species can inhabitant a wide range of habitats, from gardens and grasslands to forests and hedgerows. In fact, the photo below was taken in the grassland habitat at Crane Wildlife Management Area in Falmouth. 

Luckily, these “invaders” have not made too much of a pest of themselves, likely due to their diet. Brown-lipped snails feed mainly on dead or senescent plants, and so have not become significant agricultural pests. However, they may be having a larger effect on the native ecological community, as they have the potential to competitively exclude some native species of snails.

Like most air-breathing (i.e., pulmonate) land snails, brown-lipped snails are hermaphrodites. In fact, they fall into the category of “obligately outcrossing hermaphrodites”, which means both individuals exchange sperm during mating, and both individuals lay eggs afterward. In addition, the snails often store the sperm they receive from a partner for some time, and may mate with multiple individuals. The result being that individual broods can have mixed paternity.