Reproduction

"Creating new life"

It appears that all organisms in the subclass Pulmonata are monecious, meaning one organism has both male and female reproductive organs or capabilities.  There is hardly ever any asexual reproduction or self fertilization.  Land snails opt for cross fertilization instead by exchanging bundles of sperm.  This form of reproduction promotes genetic variation among species.  Some gastropods perform lengthy courtship rituals.  (Hickman, et al. 2009) 

As mentioned on the Habitat page, land snail eggs are at risk of desiccation, so they are lain in holes in moist ground or under logs or stones.

slug eggs under wood

There are no larval stages in development of Vertigo morsei.  They experience direct development instead, meaning a young snail hatches right out of the egg.  The distinctive torsion and coiling of the shell occur as the juvenile grows into an adult.  (Hickman, et al. 2009)

 

Those last Additonal Tidbits.

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