Identifying common British snails: Arianta arbustorum

Arianta arbustorum

Basal view of Arianta arbustorum

Side view of Arianta arbustorum

Arianta arbustorum (L. 1758)
Description: 10 - 22 x 14 - 28 mm. The shell is rather globular, more convex above than below, with a convex or conical spire of slightly convex whorls with rather shallow sutures. The umbilicus is a tiny crescent-shaped slit which is almost closed by the reflected columellar lip. Mouth nearly round, with a white, everted lip. Shell opaque, brown or yellow, usually with a dark brown spiral band at the periphery, and nearly always with extensive paler flecking over the shell. At high altitudes the shell is usually small and more conical: the largest shells are usually somewhat flattened.
Habitat: Widespread - meadows, herbage, woods and hedgerows, but always in damp places, and very restricted in areas with dry climate and good drainage.