Population fluctuation and food preference of African snail by horticulture crops

Abstract

The African snail Achatina fulica (Bowdich, 1822), originally from Africa, was introduced in Brazil and since then became an important pest, because of its resistance to abiotic conditions, hermaphroditism, polyphagia and absence of natural enemies. Considered as one of the 100 worst pests in the world, with the record of establishment in almost all Brazilian states, it causes sanitary, ecological and economic losses. In this context, the objective of this study was to determine the population dynamics and food preference of the giant snail in three areas of lettuce, located in Alagoas, Brazil. There was no statistical difference between food preference tests with and without choice among the varieties offered. To the fluctuation of the population of A. fulica, the Pearson correlation coefficients were negative only for temperature, and there was no correlation with precipitation and relative humidity.

Feeding Behavior and Preferences of Hemiplecta humphreysiana and Lissachatina fulica (Gastropoda) to Support Heliciculture in Indonesia

“…palatability and organoleptic observations. The palatability observation was based on the difference in the daily feed weight (Ferdian et al, 2020;Dos Santos et al, 2018;Ogbu et al, 2014). Fresh feed was weighed before given to the snails (before observation) and after 24 hours, the feed was weighed again (after observation).…”

“…Animals, including snails, eat the food for gaining the nutrients so that they can perform the biological process. The food preference in animals distinguishes appetite from non-appetite (Dos Santos et al 2018). The appetite of animals is physiologically complicated, but mostly might be affected by their instinct to choose any food that is sufficient for their nutrition need.…”