User:Bnolan6!/Perdicella helena

Perdicella helena species is a tropical tree living, air breathing, land snail. Endemic to Hawaii in the United States, more specifically contained in Molokai, Hawaii. Perdicella generic name is; Perdicella rather its Scientific name is; Perdicella Helena.

Classification
Perdicella helena is arboreal pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinellidae

Description:
This tropical tree living land snail has a very distinctive shell, with a white/ tanning base color on the shell and spots of brown all around the shell. The shell is segmented in sections and has a spiral type shape to it like many snails have. A perdicella’s shell has a very neutral tone to it but yet the white in it brings it a little pop.

Habitat/ Distribution:
The Perdicella helena habitat type is Terrestrial. In the state of Hawaii they are mostly found in forests, grasslands, shorelines, and wetlands. More specifically in Molokai you kind find these snails in tropical forests on trees. Perdicella came to Hawaii in 1853, now the majority of the species is extinct and very rare to find. Perdicella Helena is at risk due to the majority of the species being extinct.

Significance of Snail:
On the island of Hawaii, in Hawaiian custom the voice of the forest were known to be the snails. They embodied the Polynesian oral tradition of passing on ones genealogy through singing.

Predators:
The main predators of Perdicella Helena would be habitat loss, overcollection, and predation by invasive species.

Diet:
These snails are herbivorous grazers which feed on detritus, algal spores, mosses, and lichens. Most commonly Perdicella Helena eat leafs and moss from the trees that they live on in their tropical forest.