Land Snails

Photo: Vertigo parvula shell image © Jeff Nekola.

Click photo to enlarge.

Vertigo parvula (Sterki, 1890)

Family: Vertiginidae

Identification
Height: ~1.5 mm
Width: ~0.8 mm
Whorls: 4-5

Vertigo parvula is recognized from all other regional pupillid land snails by its very small size (1.5 mm tall or less), ovate shape, smooth shell surface, shallow suture, and peg-shaped columellar lamella. Vertigo tridentata is larger and usually possesses an upper palatal lamella, while Vertigo oscariana has a sheet-like columellar lamella and a shell widest in the middle.

Ecology
Individuals occur in accumulations of well-decomposed leaf litter in base-rich
cove forests, rock outcrops, and talus slopes at mid-to-low elevations in the central Appalachians and adjacent Piedmont (Nekola & Coles, 2010).

Distribution
Vertigo parvula possesses one of the most restricted ranges of any North American pupillid land snail, ranging only from northeastern Tennessee and adjacent North Carolina through northern Virginia, with an outlying occurrence being reported from northeastern Ohio. Virginia represents the center of range for this species, with the great majority of known stations being restricted to the state.

NatureServe Global Rank: G3
NatureServe State Rank: SU
Virginia’s wildlife action plan: Tier III

 

Jeff Nekola 9/2012

Range Map (click to enlarge)