Page 71 - Land Snails of New Mexico

Lovington, High Rolls, Alamogordo, Silver City, Hobbs, and Carlsbad.No doubt,itoccursinothercitiesinthesoutherntwo thirds of the state.
Arion fasciatus (Nilsson, 1823). (orange-banded arion)
Slugs taken along the floodplain of the Pecos River about 1 % miles north of the town of Pecos, along the Gallinas River Valley, San Miguel Co., and along the Santa Fe River in Santa
Fe, seem to conform to this species, which is native to and
widespread in Europe. Specimens have dark bands along the
anterior end and the sides of the mantle, rising above the
pneumostome and fading out posteriorly. Two parallel dark
bands extend from behind the mantle posteriorly along the sides
of the body to its posterior end. A median dorsal line of
tubercles are larger and paler in color than tubercles lateral to
them. The spermatheca has a long tapered sac. All these are
characters that differentiate A. fasciatus from the congeneric
species Arion hortensis according to Quick (1960:130). Both
species have been introduced into the United States. Specimens takeninSantaFearesmallerthanthosetakenatotherlocalities
noted.
Oxychilus draparnaudi (H. Beck, 1837). (black-bodied glasssnail)
This species is native to western Europe, and has been introduced into the United States. W e have found living specimens along the Santa Fe River in Santa Fe and in Las VegasandCarlsbad.Adultshellsrange10-12mm indiameter, and the living animal is of a striking blue-black color, characters that separate this species from the related Oxychilus cellarius
(Müller).
Limax flavus (Linnaeus, 1758). (yellow gardenslug)
This species usually has been relegated to the genus Limax, with Limacus considered to be a subgenus of Limax. However, in some, mainly European, publications, Limacus has been elevated to a full species. Bequaert and Miller (1973:148) recorded Limax flavus from several counties in Arizona. W e have found it only along the floodplain of the Gila River in Grant Co. at two localities: (1) north of the Gila River bridge betweenGilaandCliffand(2)3milesNE ofRedRock (SE%, NW%, SE%,sec.21,T 18S,R 18W)Probablyitoccurs elsewhere between these localities along the Gila River Valley. Specimens from the second locality, when observed in late March 1993,wereofvarioussizesandwereofaduskygreenish background color.They were found under rotting logs in areas thicklygrowntoCowParsnip (Heracleum lanatum),theplants about a foot high at that time. The slugs were often found aggregated together, a behavior that has been discussed for the species by Chelazzi et al. (1988).
Lehmannia valentiana (A.E.J. d'A. de Férussac, 1821). (threeband gardenslug)
This species often has been referred to Lehmanniapoirieri (Mabille, 1883) in the American literature, however, Bequaert
andMillerassignedspecimensfromArizonatoL.valentiana. The type locality is Valencia, Spain, and itseems to be native to the western Mediterranean region. Ithas been widely introduced to other parts of the world, including the United States. It is k n o w n from El Paso and Albuquerque, and likely occurs in other urban areas in the Rio Grande Valley.
Polygyra septemvolva Say, 1818. (Floridaflatcoil)
This polygyrid is a native of the southeastern United States, occurring mainly in Florida and along the Gulf Coast, west to coastalTexas(Hubricht, 1985:Map 365). Ithasbeen disseminated by horticultural practices, as seems to be the case in Carlsbad, whereitwasfoundataresidencewithmany ornamentalplants.It also has been found in El Paso, Texas, and might be expected in urban areas in N e w Mexico contiguous with El Paso.
Helix aspersa O. F. Müller, 1774. (brown gardensnail)
Helix aspersa is of European origin. In Europe it is more c o m m o n towards the south, and this also is true of the United States.IthasbeenfoundinseveralurbanareasinNew Mexico:
Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Tijeras, Socorro, Hobbs, High Rolls, Las
Cruces, Silver City, and Carlsbad. It doubtless occurs in other
populated areas. This escargot seems to be establishing itselfin
yards, gardens, and at least one campground on the eastern slope
oftheSandiaMountainsatca,7,000-7,500ft. One author(Smartt)
was contending with a thriving population of the aptly named
“browngardensnail”inhisown vegetablegardeninthesummerof 1997.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We wishtothankfirstthoseorganizationsandindividualsthat providedmonetarysupportforthisproject. Grants,contracts,and permitsfromtheNewMexicoDepartmentofGameandFish, White Sands Missile Range Environmental Office, and the U.S. FishandWildlifeServiceweregreatlyappreciated. Supportfrom t h e A l f r e d J. O s t h e i m e r M e m o r i a l F u n d , a d m i n i s t e r e d b y t h e N e w Mexico Museum ofNatural History Foundation, was crucial to the completion of field work for this project and maintenance of collectionsattheMuseum. SupportfromJacquenetteC. Ostheimer has been very generous and continuous over the years.
Three volunteers were exceptionally dedicated to this effort. Sybil Burger and Carol Bordegaray spent countless hours sorting snailsfromleafanddriftsamplesandtabulatingdata. Pauline U n g n a d e w a s totally dedicated to getting this manuscript into the computerinconsistentlywell-editedform. Severalstudentsfrom the Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute’s environmental program worked on sample-sorting and locality verification. Jackie McConachie and Patti Gegick spent numerous hours creating the database, verifying localities, and converting older localitydatatoUTM coordinates. We wouldliketoacknowledge David Hafner and Spencer Lucas for contributions above and beyondthoseexpectedofmembersoftheeditorialboard. All things considered, the effort was shared by many devoted staff
members and volunteers, we greatly appreciate all of their contributions.
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