NL·0478Herbarium of the Nature Library
- Name
- Helix pomatia
- Family
- Helicidae
- Native to
- Central and south-eastern Europe; introduced in Britain (probably in Roman times), Scandinavia and elsewhere
- Habitat
- Calcareous grassland, Woodland edge, Vineyards, Hedgerows
Roman snail
Helix pomatia
Also calledEscargot de Bourgogne (French) · Weinbergschnecke (German) · Caracol romano (Spanish) · Winniczek (Polish)
Europe's largest land snail and the classic escargot de Bourgogne. It seals itself in for winter behind a chalky door and can live for 20 years.
Helix pomatia, known as the Roman snail, Burgundy snail, or escargot, is a species of large, air-breathing stylommatophoran land snail belonging to the family Helicidae and native to Europe. It is characterized by a globular brown shell. Wikipedia
What it can do
- iSeals its shell in winter with a thick, chalky epiphragm
- iiShoots a calcium 'love dart' into its partner during courtship
- iiiHermaphrodite: each snail both gives and receives sperm
- ivCan live about 20 years or more
In the field
Field marks
- aLarge, globular shell, creamy-buff to light brown
- bFaint, broad, pale brownish bands
- cBody pale grey-cream with a coarse, net-like texture
- dLip of the shell only slightly thickened
- Not to be confused with
- Garden snail (Cornu aspersum) is smaller with a glossy brown shell mottled in darker bands. Turkish snail (Helix lucorum) has bold, dark-brown bands.
- Where to see it
- Chalk downs of southern England (e.g. North Downs, Chilterns) and limestone country across central Europe after rain.
- When
- Active Apr–Oct; hibernates in winter
Life & habits
- Diet
- Green plants, fallen leaves and fruit
- Habitat
- Lime-rich soils: chalk and limestone grassland, open woods, hedgerows and vineyards
- Size
- Shell about 4–5 cm high and wide
- Lifespan
- Often 6–10 years in the wild; up to about 20 years or more
Before winter it buries itself in soil and seals the shell opening, slowing its heartbeat and breathing until spring.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Native range
Central and south-eastern Europe; introduced in Britain (probably in Roman times), Scandinavia and elsewhere
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Woodcuts and engravings matched from the Source Library’s scanned books by name. Plates marked “relative” show a close kin rather than this exact species. Click a plate to read the page it came from, with translation.
History of Animals, Book II: On Oviparous Quadrupeds
Conrad Gessner · 1586 · p.621
Georg Wolfgang Knorr; Johann Ernst Immanuel Walch — Schnecken und Muscheln (1770)
Georg Wolfgang Knorr; Johann Ernst Immanuel Walch · 1770 · p.21
Books on Marine Fishes
Guillaume Rondelet · 1554 · p.737
History of Animals, Book II: On Oviparous Quadrupeds
Conrad Gessner · 1586 · p.718
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Helix pomatia in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
Marginalia
Pliny the Elder credited Fulvius Lippinus with founding the first snail parks near Tarquinia in the 1st century BCE, fattening snails for Roman tables.
Curiosity
Courtship can last hours, the pair circling and caressing each other before one fires its chalky love dart.
Kinship
Photographs: iNaturalist contributors under the licences shown. Records: GBIF.org. Historical plates: Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0; originals public domain). Summary text: Nature Library editors and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Medicinal and edibility notes are historical and educational, not advice. iNaturalist taxon 61523.