Larry Watrous

Family Strobilopsidae
Order Stylommatophora

The shell of this tiny animal is shaped like a child’s top, though maybe a little flatter and with ridges added. It is approximately 2.5mm across and 2mm tall (Pilsbry, 1948). The base of the shell is smoother than the upper surfaces, and through the base you may be able to see the elongated lamellae or “teeth” inside, following the curve of the whorls.

The apertural lip of the bronze pinecone is somewhat thickened and the entire shell is relatively stout. The animal is pale while the shell is dark reddish-brown. In comparison with its close relatives, the bronze pinecone is flatter, has a more angled periphery and has only three or four basal lamellae. Other species have more basal lamellae.

Presumably the heavy armor of the bronze pinecone’s shell is a defense against beetles and millipedes that prowl the logs and leaf litter of its forest habitat. This pinecone is very widespread in the Eastern United States, occurring from New England, south to Florida and west to Texas (Hubricht, 1985).

In a Tennessee study, the bronze pinecone was correlated with flatter, drier sites, and log microhabitats, but also found in moss and leaf litter (Coney et al.,1982). Likewise in Pennsylvania, the bronze pinecone is often found on rotten hardwood logs, and these often have loose bark and have been attacked by fungi. The snail may initially be difficult to distinguish from the textured wood and fungi fruiting bodies, but may be easier to see on smooth pale surfaces, such as a cut-off log “butt."

Ken Hotopp, Tim Pearce 11/14/05