Page 40 - Land Snails of New Mexico

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cochisensis (see above) at two localities in the Animas Mountains. Four specimens were taken in leaflitteralong Indian Creek Canyon and twelve specimens were taken on the north slopeofAnimasPeak,insoilandleaflitterthatfilledinterstices
of igneous-rock talus.
Genus Columella
Columella columella alticola (E. Ingersoll, 1875, as Pupilla alticola). Bulletin of the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, 1:128. T.L.; Cunningham Gulch, San Juan Co., Colorado. (mellow column)
New Mexico Distribution--Pilsbry(1948:1004) reported this species from Willow Creek in the Mogollon Mountains (collected by Ferriss and Daniels) and from La Belle, near Elizabethtown in Taos Co. (collected by Rev. E. H. Ashmun). We havecollectedthisspeciesinwidelyseparatedmountainsin N e w Mexico: Sangre de Cristo (Colfax, San Miguel, and Santa Fe Counties), Jemez (Sandoval Co.), Capitan (Lincoln Co.),
SierraBlanca (Lincoln and Otero counties), Salinas Peak (Sierra Co.),andMogollon(CatronCo.).Itwas takenindamp leaf-litter in densely wooded, shady ravines of montane forests.
Family Valloniidae Genus Vallonia
Vallonia parvula V. Sterki, 1893. Manual of Conchology, 8:254; Pl. 32, Figs. 23-26. T.L.: Joliet, Illinois. (trumpet vallonia)
General Distribution—Hubricht (1985:Map 28) mapped V. parvulaasoccurringfromNew YorkwestwardtoSouthDakota andsouthwestwardtoOklahomaandTexas.Itiscommonfrom
IllinoiswestwardtoeasternKansasandOklahoma.
New MexicoDistribution--Valloniaparvulaisfoundonly
ineasternNew Mexico.Inthenortheasternpart,thissnailisless
commonthanV gracilicosta,butithasbeentakenatnumerous
localities from the eastern foothills of the Sangre de Cristo
Mountains, eastward to Oklahoma. A n isolated population of
livingVparvulahasbeenfoundalongthePeñascoRiverValley in the eastern foothills of the Sacramento Mountains. This
isolated occurrence could be the result of human introduction. However, the following occurrences of V. parvula indicate that
thespecieshasinhabitedtheareaforalongperiodoftime:1)a fossil(collectedbyD.W. Taylor)inHolocenesedimentsalong the Rio Felix, not far to the northeast of the Peñasco Valley localityand2)asaPleistocenefossilinspring-relateddeposits at Nash Draw east of Carlsbad (Ashbaugh and Metcalf, 1986:12). Thus, it seems likely that the Peñasco Valley populationisarelictofaprevious,more widespread distribution ofV.parvula.
Habitat-Vallonia gracilicosta (see below) has been found inbothuplandandriparianhabitatsinCimarron Co.,Oklahoma, andadjacentNewMexico.Itwascommonespeciallyunder shrubsalongcanyonwallsandonbluffs.Valloniaparvula,on the other hand, showed a preference for riparian habitats, although it extended headward along canyon floors for considerable distances. It showed a similar preference for
riparianhabitats,westward,whereitextendstothefoothillsof the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Vallonia perspectiva V. Sterki, 1893. Manual of Conchology, 8:257, Pl. 33, Figs. 39-45. T.L.: Woodville, Jackson Co., Alabama. (T.L. selected by Pilsbry, 1948:1034) (thin-lipvallonia)
General Distribution--Hubricht (1985:Map 33) has recorded this species as widely scattered in the eastern United States. There are few records from the southeastern states,
althoughthetypelocalityisinAlabama.Thespeciesseemstobe more of a southwestern than an eastern element. As Bequaert and Miller(1973:97) wrote, "Itsmain continuous range iseven nowinArizona,NewMexico,andTrans-PecosTexas,whereit lives from 3,500 to 8,700 feet elevation. Elsewhere the records areerraticandsomewhatuncertain...."
N e w Mexico Distribution and Habitat--Vallonia
perspectivaismorecommon inthesouthernand centralpartsof N e w Mexico, and less c o m m o n northward. It occurs widely in mountains in the Upper Sonoran and Transition Zones, toleratingfairlyxerichabitatswhere thereisadequateleaflitter, as along canyons and rocky scarps. It is common in such southern mountains as the Big Hatchet, Florida, Organ, and San Andres Mountains and the Black Range. In the Big Hatchet Mountains,itoccurswiththelesscommon Valloniasonorana on the north-facing timbered slope below Hacheta Grande.
Vallonia cyclophorella V. Sterki, 1892. The Nautilus, 5:101. T.L.: Westcliffe, Custer Co., Colorado. (silky vallonia)
Vallonia gracilicosta O. Reinhardt, 1883. Sitzungs Berichte, Gesellschaft Naturforschunde Freunde Berlin, p 42. T.L.: Little Missouri River, North Dakota, probably near Medora, Billings Co., according to Pilsbry (1948: 1030). (multirib vallonia) -
In regard to general distribution, V. cyclophorella and V.
gracilicosta are mainly western species. As Pilsbry
(1948:1036) noted: "V. cyclophorella is by far the most
generallydistributedValloniaofthemountainstates." Itis
confined to the Rocky Mountains westward, except for a few records from the western Dakotas and Texas Panhandle.
Vallonia gracilicosta is a species more of the eastern foothills region.OfinterestisthedistributionalmapofV gracilicostafor theeasternUnitedStates,assembledbyHubricht(1985:Map 31) in which numerous fossil localities for the species are indicated for the Plains states and eastward from Kansas to
IllinoisandIndiana(theprairiepeninsulaeffect?).Theserecords indicate an extensive former range for the species in a region where itno longer occurs. Records of living specimens are mapped for the Northeast (Maine, Massachusetts, and New York) and, after a great hiatus, for Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas. All northern records seem to be those previously ascribedtoV.albulaSterki,1893.
Hubricht (1985:7) synonymized V. albula with V. gracilicosta, which seems a prudent measure. In fact, Pilsbry (1948:1032)wrote:"inthemountainstatesitisoftennoteasyto decidebetweenalbulaandgracilicosta..."and"Iam leaving