Land Snails

Photo(s): Views of the fragile shell of Mesodon mitchellianus © Dan Dourson.
Illustration © Kathy Schmidt from her series "Land Snails of New York State."

Click photo(s) to enlarge.

Mesodon mitchellianus (I. Lea, 1839)

Family: Polygyridae
Common name: Sealed Globelet

Identification
Width: 15.0- 17.5 mm
Height: 11.5- 13.0 mm
Whorls: 5+

This species has a small, very rounded, thin shell.  Its shell has no teeth and its umbilicus is closed, covered by the lip callus. The periphery of the aperture is rounded and reflected.

Ecology
Mesodon mitchellianus prefers turf habitats. It may be found in meadows, roadsides and floodplains (Hubricht, 1985).

Taxonomy
Mesodon mitchellianus has also been known as: Helix mitchelliana, Mesodon mitchelliana, and Polygyra mitchelliana.

Distribution
This Mid­western native ranges from southern Michigan and eastern Indiana east to the Appalachian mountains of eastern Kentucky, North Carolina (Emberton, 1991), and Virginia. An anomalous report from Westmoreland County may be an introduction.

Conservation
NatureServe Global Rank: G4, Apparently Secure
NatureServe State Rank: Pennsylvania, S2, Imperiled; Virginia, S4, Apparently Secure; West Virginia, S2, Imperiled; unranked in other Northeast states.

 

Ken Hotopp, Meegan Winslow 9/2012
Update KPH 5/2018

Range Map (click to enlarge)