333/366 Striped snail

28 Saturday Nov 2020

Tags

Banded snail, British molluscs, British snails, Cernuella virgata, snails, Striped snail

And now for something completely different….

201128 striped snail (1)

I don’t often look at molluscs but these banded beauties caught my eye when I was walking across the Cardiff Bay Barrage earlier this week. I’m fairly sure they’re Cernuella virgata, Striped or Banded snails.

The presence of dark-on-light spiralling bands on their shells is one defining feature, as is their semi-spherical, rather than flat, shape, and the small open umbilicus. And they’re usually found on coastal sites, particularly in calcareous grassland, which fits the Barrage location.

201128 striped snail (2)

304/366 Wild word: deliquesce

30 Friday Oct 2020

Posted by sconzani in autumn, fungi, molluscs

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Tags

British fungi, Coprinus comatus, deliquesce, deliquescence, inkcap fungus, inkcaps, Shaggy inkcap, slug, slug eating fungus

Deliquesce: verb; (of organic matter) become liquid, typically during decomposition. Mid 18th century from Latin deliquescere ‘dissolve’, from de- ‘down’ + liquescere ‘become liquid’ (Oxford Dictionary).

201030 shaggy inkcap (1)

These Shaggy inkcaps (Coprinus comatus) may look sturdy and robust but, like all inkcaps and many other species of fungi, they only last a few days, sometimes as little as 24 hours, before turning into a rather disgusting-looking liquid mush, as shown by the specimen below. If you want to read more about the how and why of that process, about the inkcaps’ ‘habit of destroying themselves with their own enzymes’, check out The Dish on Deliquescence in Coprinus Species by Jonathan Landsman on the Cornell Mushroom blog.

Many humans may not know that inkcaps quickly deliquesce but slugs do. This slimy beastie was digging in to a Shaggy inkcap delicacy before the fungus had a chance to digest itself.

201030 shaggy inkcap (6)

207/366 At home in the bindweed

25 Saturday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in flowers, molluscs, nature, wildflowers

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Bindweed flower, slugs, slugs in bindweed flowers

I had to chuckle during this morning’s brief stomp between bouts of heavy rain. The local slugs, which I thought would be at home in such conditions, sliding on the grass, slithering over leaves, were more literally ‘at home’, sheltering in the deep flower cups of bindweed.

200725 slugs in bindweed (1) 200725 slugs in bindweed (2) 200725 slugs in bindweed (3)

191/366 Snail sex

09 Thursday Jul 2020

Posted by sconzani in molluscs, nature

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British snails, snail love dart, snail reproduction, snail sex, snails

I’ve noticed snails cwtched up together many times in the past but I’d never observed the nitty gritty of what they were actually doing until I saw this pair. Because they’d pulled slightly apart, it was possible to see their ‘apparatus’ in action.

200709 mating snails (1)

And what about the tiny white spike on the snail at left? Is that one of the love darts that snails stab their mates with? I don’t know enough about snails to be sure but, for more on this point, you can read about the sharp end of snail sex on the National Geographic website here.

200709 mating snails (2)

16/366 Beneath

16 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, molluscs, nature, winter

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Hairy snail, slime mould, slugs, springtail, under a log

When wet weather forces a change of plan, sometimes the only thing for it is to head to the woods and turn over some logs, because there’s never nothing to see under a log!

Two slugs, possibly even the same species despite their obvious colour differences.

Eggs? Those on the left might well be slug or snail eggs but the ones on the right were much smaller and seemed caught up in a web or perhaps just strands of slime. I didn’t poke them – didn’t want to disturb them – so I’m not sure of their texture.

200116 5 slime

A slime mould, though not as much slime as I was hoping for. Possibly one of the Trichia species, perhaps Trichia persimilis.

200116 8 springtail

A springtail, probably one of the Entomobrya species but I really needed a photo of its upper side to be able to confirm its identification.

200116 7 hairy snails

Hairy snails (Trochulus hispidus), I believe, as the only other hairy snail has a more conical shell. It always seems odd to me for a snail to have hairs … but odd is good, interesting, never boring!

346/365 Sea shells

12 Thursday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in coastal fauna, molluscs, nature, seaside

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

at the seaside, seashell, shells, shells on beach

When the rain finally abated mid afternoon, I went to vote and then headed down to the seaside, to clear my head with some fresh air. The tide was out so I couldn’t resist having a brief fossick along the beach. It’s a stony shore and there are never many shells to be found but I did find a few nestled amongst the stones.

298/365 More good weather for slugs

25 Friday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, molluscs, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

autumn weather, berries, fungi, slugs, wet weather

191025 slugs (1)

Wales is once again living up to its reputation for being a wet country, a fact about which I may not be particularly happy but the slugs are once again / still loving it.

191025 slugs (2)

291/365 Good weather for slugs

18 Friday Oct 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, molluscs, nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Arion ater agg, Black slug, British molluscs, British slugs, slug

191018 Black slug (1)

I know Wales has a reputation for being a wet country but the past couple of weeks have been much wetter than any I’ve known in my four years here. Still, it’s good weather for slugs, which is why this large and colourful beastie was to be found sliding its way across my path today. It was about 3 inches long and I presume, despite its colour – they vary a lot, that it’s a Black slug (Arion ater agg.), a species that can only be positively identified by examination of its genitals. I’m not going there!

191018 Black slug (2)

34/365 Beachcombing

03 Sunday Feb 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, geology, molluscs, nature, seaside

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Tags

#365DaysWild, beach fossick, beachcombing, fossilised seashell, fossils, Penarth Head, seashell

As part of this morning’s local meander, I went for a beachcomb at the base of the cliffs at Penarth Head – not too close to those cliffs as they’re continually shedding small stones and occasional larger boulders but it’s safe enough nearer the water’s edge when the tide’s going out. I didn’t linger long as people arrived to run their dogs, sending sand and stones everywhere. However, I did find this little beauty before they arrived – a fossilised seashell I think.

p.s. My fab Facebook friend Mark says that the only ‘Jurassic bivalve with that pattern in my books is something called Oxytoma inequivalvis’, so now we have a name. Thanks, Mark.

190203 fossil

Under the log

29 Saturday Dec 2018

Posted by sconzani in fungi, insects, molluscs, nature, slugs, winter

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#7DaysofWildChristmas, brain fungi, Catinella olivacea, Cogan Wood, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, earthworms, Harvestman, orange slime, slugs, snails, turning over logs, woodlice

The weather was back to grey and drizzly again today so I donned my wet weather gear and headed to Cogan Wood to spend part of day 5 of my #7DaysofWildChristmas challenge turning over a few rotten logs and branches. And what did I find lurking there?

Woodlice; snails both long and rotund; earthworms; luscious balls of orange slime; tiny globular balls that looked like the eggs of something or other; pale little lumps of White or Crystal brain fungi; slugs brown and black; a stripey legged Harvestman; miniscule white mushrooms adorned with drops of water; a young centipede or millipede – I can never be quite sure which is which; dark little cup fungi, black with olive rims (Catinella olivacea) – very pleased with that find; and various other things, the photographs of which were either out of focus or too grainy due to the poor light conditions in the woodland. There’s nothing quite like getting wild and muddy – it was fun!

181229 under the log (11)