Interactions
There was little information about the interactions between
Patera binneyana and other animals; however since many
terrestrial snails are similar we will be talking about the
interactions of the general population of terrestrial snails.
Terrestrial snails as Ken Hotopp had stated would be located
towards the end of the food chain because of their small size
and slow locomotion. There are abundant amounts of different
types of invertebrate and vertebrate predators towards
terrestrial snails (Hotopp, 2005).
One in particular is Schaphinotus, a group of beetles
that target snails and because of their smaller upper body
portions they are able to enter into the snails’ shell
(Dourson, 2006), but depending on
the size of their prey and their own capabilities the ways that
they hunt are different (Hotopp, 2005).
If we look at the ruffed grouse they are able to swallow larger
snails as a whole without breaking into the shell, compared to
Haplotrema convacum, a predatory land snail, that
breaks into the shell of its prey
(Hotopp, 2005). However, though terrestrial snails are
small, they have been able to develop multiple defense
mechanisms to protect themselves.
A defense mechanism that is used is increasing the amount of
mucus made by terrestrial snails
(Hotopp, 2005). Though the mucous is mainly used for
locomotion and moisture, when a snail comes under attack they
will increase the amount of mucous to stop the predator from
attacking (Hotopp, 2005). Another
mechanism is the coloration of the snails themselves. The colors
of their shells are able to aid them in hiding in their
environment from predators who hunt using vision
(Hotopp, 2005).