Variations in
Amphidromusatricallosus
.
photo:PeteKrull
TerralogNEWS101
7
and finallypaintedonto the terrariumglasswithanartist’sbrush.
Breeding
Amphidromusatricallosus
lay their eggs innestsmadeof leavesand suspended
in theair.Thenominate formhasbeenseen touse the leavesof thePomelo tree
(
Citrus maximus
), while
A. a. leucoxanthus
has used Rambutan (
Nephelium
lappaceum
). Both fruits are available in Europe and it is sometimes possible to
grow small trees from their seeds. It is, however, rather unlikely that porcelain
tree snails areparticularly specialized in this respect.
The snail builds its nest by secreting a sticky substance from its foot andusing
this“glue”to stick theundersidesof two leaves together to formanest inwhich
theeggsare laid.Theeggshaveadiameterof2-3mmandhavenumbered100-
150 in the cases recorded, although the snails in questionwere still relatively
small. Theywereheld together by a stickymucus.Thoseon theoutsideof the
ball of eggs shriveledupanddidn’t hatch. It isprobable that theyare sacrificed
toprotecting the rest of the clutch, inparticular against dehydration.
Unfortunately no information is available about the length of the incubation
period, but the young supposedly feed initially on their eggshells before
dispersing.This clearly indicates that juveniles at least have a relatively robust
radula and can exploit a comparatively large dietary spectrum. On hatching
theyare transparent,helicoid (ienormal snail shape),and2-3mm longwith1-2
coils.
References
Krull,P. (2006):Rearing tropical arboreal snails in the laboratory.Tentacle14:3-5
Sutcharid, C. & S. Panha (2006): Taxonomic review of the tree snail genus
AmphidromusAlbers,1850 (Pulmonata:Camaenidae) inThailandandadjacent
areas: subgenusAmphidromus. Journal ofMolluscanStudies (2006) 72:1–30.
Web tip
TheGenusAmphidromus@http://www.jaxshells.org/petek.htm
A.a.atricallosus
A.a. leucoxanthus
