The Nigerian Snail: Limicolaria flammea

The Limicolaria flammea of the phylum Mollusca is a very common land snail in Nigeria. You can literally find this everywhere in the country especially when it rains. It has a smooth shell and beautiful brown stripes and patterns on a cream coloured base.

Although native to Nigeria, this snail was introduced to an island in Singapore in 2006 and it has since poised a problem to the horticulture industry. Hand picking them has so far being the major method of eradication to prevent further spread.

Snails are said to be nocturnal and it's very obvious in the morning that this common specie gets very busy in the night time. A lot of times when it's dark, you find them in pairs mating, stooling or making lots of movements.

The Limicolaria flammea here is not yet an adult looking at the size (correct me if I'm wrong). I placed a wet piece of groundnut in it's way and it swallowed it. I saw another with grass in it's mouth. They do love plants and it's believed they invaded Singapore through the import of a plant.

Snail farming is a common business in Nigeria and this specie being edible makes for good business. They're very inexpensive to take care of and bring a reasonable amount of revenue.

You could also have them as pets just like Spongebob but I doubt they're as smart as Gary.

Enjoy this video of this Limicolaria flammea gliding majestically with antennae held high at my backyard.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limicolaria_flammea