DSC_4121 Garden snail (Cornu aspersum) 'graveyard'. Empty shells accumulated in sand dune hollows. Garden snails are native to the Mediterranean area and Western Europe, but accidentally introduced worldwide by humans. Spirit's Bay, North Cape *
11005-03102 Flax snail, or pūpū whakarongotau (Placostylus ambagiosus keenorum) adult of the subspecies from the Maungapiko Pa population, on a nikau frond leaf base. The original native forest habitat of flax snails on the northern Aupouri Peninsula has been so greatly reduced that only about 3% of the original forest cover now remains. All nine subspecies of P. ambagiosus currently recognised, are critically endangered because of their very small, fragmented populations, their susceptibility to predation by pigs, rats and Argentine ants, as well as the continual threat of fire and drought. Spirits Bay, Northland *
DSC_5089 Minute land snail (Thalassohelix igniflua) Otago Peninsula *
