How do field snails reproduce?

Field snails reproduce through eggs. The field snail is dioecious and hermaphroditic. It is an oviparous animal with a unique way of reproduction. The mature eggs meet and fertilize with sperm at the top of the fallopian tube, and the fertilized eggs undergo embryonic development in the womb of the female snail. The embryonic development and larval development of field snail are completed in the mother. From the fertilized egg to the birth of the young snail, it takes about a year to conceive in the mother.

I. the living habits of field snails

The main feeding organ of the snail is the toothed tongue, which is used for scraping underwater and epiphytic food. Field snails have miscellaneous feeding habits. In the natural environment, they mainly eat aquatic plants, such as tender stems and leaves, algae, bacteria and organic detritus, as well as filter plankton, and like nocturnal activities and feeding.

The snail begins to move and feed at a water temperature of about 15 ℃. The optimum temperature for growth is 20-28 ℃. When the temperature is above 30 ℃, the snail will shrink its flesh into the shell, gather in the shade or dive into the soil for summer. When the water temperature exceeds 40 ℃, the snail will die. It has strong adaptability to drought and cold. The snail sneaks into the mud hole to hibernate when the water temperature is lower than 8c. When the water temperature rises to about 15 ℃ in the spring next year, the snail will come out and feed again. Field snails are very sensitive to dissolved oxygen in water. When the amount of dissolved oxygen in water drops to 3.5 mg / L, they do not eat energetically; when 1.5 mg / L, they begin to die.

2. Reproductive characteristics of field snail

The difference between female and male snail is mainly based on the shape of antennae, the two antennae of female snail are symmetrical and isomorphic, and the two antennae of male snail are asymmetrical, and the right antennae are short and thick. Bend inward to form specialized mating organs (curved part is male genitalia). In addition, the female snail is large and round, while the male snail is small and long. Natural waters are generally more female than male.

The field snail is an oviparous animal with a unique mode of reproduction. The mature eggs are fertilized with sperm at the top of the fallopian tube, and the fertilized eggs undergo embryonic development in the womb of the female snail. The embryonic development and larval development of field snail are completed in the mother. From the fertilized egg to the birth of the young snail, it takes about a year to conceive in the mother. The field snail gives birth in batches and begins to reproduce from March to April every year. At the same time, the female and male parent snails are mated and fertilized, and then the young snails to be produced the following year are conceived in the mother. The mating behavior is generally carried out in the daytime, the mating time can be as long as 12 hours, and the larval snail is larger than the output at night. A female snail produces about 100 to 150 young snails in the whole year. The shell of the newborn snail is 4-7 mm high. After one year of growth, the gonad matures. In the reproductive stage, female snails often contain young snails at different developmental stages in the uterus.