More on mating snails

It's spring time and my fancy turns to watching mating snails, specifically, Oxyloma retusa. I have written about their mating in this post. For the past week, I've been timing them while they do their thing.

Last night, I had 2 pairs under observation. One pair mated for 66 minutes, the other pair, the one on the tissue paper, for 95 minutes. The latter pair is the current record holder. I don't know why they need so much time. Does it really take that long to transfer sperm?

A couple of nights ago, I witnessed something even more interesting: 2 pairs mating simultaneously on top of each other.


I had seen simultaneous mating of more than one pair of snails once before with Rumina saharica. I suspect mating snails exude a pheromone-like chemical in their slimes and that excites nearby snails, causing them to start mating also.