Slugs and Snails

Slugs and snails in agriculture

Apart from the common garden snail (Helix aspersa) that damages home gardens and intensive horticultural crops, Australia is also an unwilling host to a range of other slugs and snails that have evaded quarantine since the 1920’s. Now large parts of the cereal zones of SE and Western Australia are infested with snails and slugs.

Conical snail, Cochicella acuta

garden snail

Common garden snail Helix aspersa

Chief amongst the problem invaders are the common white snail (Cernuella virgata), white Italian snail (Theba pisana),the conical snail (Cochlicella acuta) and the small pointed snail (Cochicella Barbara). These snails eat crop and cause grain contamination at harvest which lowers grain value.

Controlling slugs and snails in crops and gardens

Snails gathered on a crop

Controlling snail populations is critical for profitable grain production. Each snail can lay about 400 eggs after autumn rains, so densities can reach thousands of snails per square meter of crop. In the hot conditions of summer the snails can seal off to conserve moisture (“asteivate”). They can climb up fence posts to avoid desiccation on hot soil. Up to 4000 snails can cover a single fence post and these could produce over a million offspring in one season! Eggs laid in Autumn hatch in winter and the young snails feed voraciously in Spring.

The Grains industry in conjunction with The SA Research & Development Institute (SARDI) have published good extension materials for snail control with a variety of techniques. Bashing snail shells, burning snails with stubble and baiting with metaldehyde baits are the chief methods of control. There are also techniques to minimize contamination of harvested grain and to minimise the further spread of snails. Nevertheless, in wetter years, baiting is one of the best options available once large scale hatchings emerge.

Animal Control Technologies
46-50 Freight Drive
Somerton, Victoria, 3062
Australia
Telephone +61 3 9308 9688
Fax +61 3 9308 9622

E-mail: enquiries@animalcontrol.com.au