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Rumina decollata is a land snail native to the Mediterranean region that expanded its distribution to several regions of Africa, Asia and the Americas due to accidental or purposely introductions. In Argentina, it was reported in 1988 in the outskirts of Buenos Aires City, and expanded its distribution thenceforth. This facultative self-fertilizer is omnivorous and presents high resistance to extreme climatic conditions facilitating the establishment and colonization of new environments. It is considered an invasive species, crop pest and predator of native invertebrates in several countries; it is also a host of Aelurostrongylus abstrusus and Toxocara cati, two cat parasites able to affect humans. As R. decollata inhabits mostly private gardens, it is difficult to do extensive sampling. So, we performed a citizen science project through social media to update its distribution in Argentina. As a result, we got 696 records from 179 cities and towns in 16 provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, throughout the country from Patagonia to Northern Argentina. We here present the first record of R. decollata for eight new provinces and 166 new localities, so that the extreme localities currently confirmed in the country are > 2100 km apart, over different ecoregions, from sea level to 1900 m above sea. This snail inhabits urban and peri-urban areas and it is likely that it colonizes natural environments in a near future due to its high dispersal capacity. Our data confirm that Rumina decollata has spread rapidly in Argentina during the last three decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The endemic fauna of achatinoid terrestrial molluscs for the Socotran Archipelago (Yemen) is revised. The main group falls into two genera, viz. Riebeckia E. v. Martens, 1883 with five species and Balfouria Crosse, 1884 with seven species, two of which are here described as new to science, i.e. Balfouria nitida n. sp., and Balfouria minima n. sp. Another globally distributed species could be found, and the endemic Zootecus species of the outer island of Abd el-Kuri is illustrated. The highly specialised shell structure of Balfouria is discussed, which is used to camouflage the animals with a mixture of clay and mucus protecting the shell during the individual lifetime of a specimen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The giant African snail, Lissachatina fulica, is considered one of the most invasive species worldwide, acting as a crop pest and diseases vector. It was first detected in Cuba in 2014 and is dispersing throughout Havana. We mapped 34 sites in the vicinity of Havana to assess its spread and analysed ecological (forestation and humidity) and anthropogenic (pollution and religious sites) factors in relation to the presence/absence of the snails using multivariate correspondence analysis. There were 14 sites at which the snail was present and where religious rituals of the Yoruba creed, an African rooted religion, were observed. No other variables showed significant relationships. This indicates that the rituals may be a major factor in the dispersal of the snail in Havana and more widely in Cuba. In light of this an outreach program with key Yoruba leaders may help in slowing the dispersal of the snail within Cuba, once the threats posed by this species are known. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]