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Family: Gastrodontidae
Common name: Common Button
Discovery: H.B. Baker, 1933
Identification
Width: 20-28 mm
Height: 12.5-17.5 mm
Whorls: 4.5-5.5
Mesomphix vulgatus has a shell with a sharp lip, low apex, and a small umbilicus. The microsculpture consists of closely spaced distinct radial striae, which extend below the periphery but become smooth on the glossy base. Spiral rows of microscopic papillae appear on the upper surface of the final whorl but are weak or absent on the base. The shell color is olive to cinnamon brown.
Ecology
This species can be found in dry upland hardwood forests in leaf litter and under logs on hillsides and in ravines.
Taxonomy
Synonyms for M. vulgatus are Helix lucubrata, Mesomphix laevigatus,and Mesomphix laevigata vulgatus.
Distribution
Mesomphix vulgatus occurs from southern Indiana south to the Gulf coast with smaller numbers of records as far west as Texas and eastern Oklahoma, and as far east to the Atlantic coast, with occurrences in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Conservation
NatureServe Global Rank: G4, Apparently Secure
