Geography & Distribution

 
Euchemotrema leai (Binney, 1841)

The lowland pillsnail is a native, non-migratory, terrestrial species of North America (Cordeiro 2009).  It inhabits many areas in the eastern half of the United States as well as some parts of Canada.  More specifically it is located east of Kansas and South Dakota, through Ohio and Michigan, and up to New York (Cordeiro 2009).  In Canada, the population is most dense within 100 km of Lake Erie and moving north along the western shore of Lake Huron (Cordeiro 2009).  Also as shown in the maps, this species populates large portions of the middle, southern states as well (Hubricht 1985).  Lowland pillsnails are a gregarious species meaning that they are sociable and live in loosely organized communities (Brown and Bruder 1968).  For this reason they tend not to travel far.  This lack of movement could also be caused by physical barriers such as dry areas with less than six inches of rain, large bodies of water greater than 30m in diameter, as well as permanent frozen areas.  As a terrestrial snail, they need moisture for respiration and the hatching of eggs (Cordeiro 2009).  In comparison to the Subclass Prosobranchia, the Subclass Pulmonata can occupy more diverse environments because they are less restrictive.  Nonetheless, the terrestrial species tends to occupy small areas and only moves to find food and reproduce (Cordeiro 2009). 

 

 

Check out what type of Habitat the Lowland Pillsnail occupies.

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