African giant snail (Lissachatina fulica)

Bekicot or African giant snail (Lissachatina fulica) is an animal species in the Achatinidae, the large land snail, the roll has dextral or synistral, the color varies widely and depends on food, thrives in a variety of habitats including agricultural land, coastal areas, forests, rivers, shrubs forests, cities and wetlands.

L. fulica has a height of up to 7 cm and a length of 20 cm or more, the shell is conical, the height is about twice the width, the coils have dextral or sinistral, the color is usually brown, the shell is very strong and has heavy metal content among which snail species even.

African giant snail feeds on a wide variety of plant, fruit and vegetable materials, paper, cardboard and other small dead animals including rats and birds. Sometimes it eats sand, stones, bones from carcasses and concrete as a source of calcium for shells.

Each individual has testes and ovaries to produce sperm and eggs, but cases of self-fertilization are rare. The transferred sperm can be stored in the body for up to two years. The individual produces an average of 200 eggs. A snail lays five to six eggs per year with a penetration ability of about 90%.

Adult size is reached in about six months, after which growth slows down, but does not stop until death. Life expectancy of up to 10 years. It is active at night and spends the day buried underground. Snails can survive up to 3 years in extreme drought.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Infraclass: Euthyneura
Subterclass: Tectipleura
Superorder: Eupulmonata
Order: Stylommatophora
Suborder: Achatinina
Superfamily: Achatinoidea
Family: Achatinidae
Subfamily: Achatininae
Genus: Lissachatina
Species: Lissachatina fulica

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