Limicolaria flammea (Müller, 1774), Another Potentially Invasive African Land Snail in Tropical Asia

Abstract

The pulmonate land snail, Limicolaria flammea (Müller, 1774), is native to West Africa and its invasive potential is hitherto unknown. We report this species in Asia, specifically on the tropical island of Singapore. The presence of this alien species is of grave concern because its congener (L. aurora) has invaded the French West Indies and the confamilial giant African land snail (Achatina fulica) has colonized the globe to an extent where it is regarded as one of the world's worst 100 invasive alien species. In order to curb the spread of L. flammea into the native forests in Singapore, local authorities should start employing mechanical eradication methods (e.g., handpicking). We hypothesize that L. flammea arrived together with an exotic plant species, whose identity and import origin must be determined urgently to prevent the spread of this species into the rest of tropical Asia.

Parasites of edible land snails in Edo State, Nigeria

“…The only land snail species positive of D. dendtriticum was L. fl ammea. Limicolaria fl ammea is native to Nigeria with oil palm and cocoa plantation their most preferred habitats (Tan and Clements, 2011). The parasite D. dendtriticum have two intermediate hosts (land snails and ants) and the sexually mature is often seen in the bile ducts of sheep, goats and pigs.…”