Crop Res.

56 (5) : 258-265 (2021) 17

With two figures
Printed in India
Distribution status and molecular characterisation of the invasive
giant African land snail Lissachatina fulica in agricultural
ecosystems of Tamil Nadu, India
KEERTHY VIJAYAN1,*, MUHILAN MAHENDHIRAN1 AND SUGANTHASAKTHIVEL, R2
1
Kalasalingam School of Agriculture and Horticulture
Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education
Krishnankoil-626126, Tamil Nadu, India
*(e-mail : kimmumolath@gmail.com)

(Received : September 08, 2021/Accepted : October 17, 2021)

ABSTRACT

The tropical invasive species Giant African Land Snail Lissachatina fulica is one
of the worst of hundred invasive species in the world listed by IUCN. The snail severely
affects agricultural and horticultural crops and home gardens throughout the tropics.
The snail has reached India in 1847 and later it has spread into South India around the
1920s. An extensive survey was conducted in Tamil Nadu from 2016 to 2020 to detect
the current distribution and assess the extent of damage caused to agriculture and
horticulture crops by this snail. The Giant African Snail populations are found to be
present in 29 localities spanning nine districts of Tamil Nadu. Fifteen snail samples
were subjected to molecular characterization using the cytochrome oxidase subunit I
(COI) gene. Three distinct haplotypes were identified by comparing the sequences with
already available sequences from published research. The haplotype and nucleotide
diversities were calculated and are found to be low when compared to other geographical
regions. In urban inhabitations, the snail is found to be a menace in human settlements
and the pest status of the snail is prominent in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu. The
study has recorded that L. fulica now is an established pest in paddy, mulberry, banana,
coconut, vegetable crops, tapioca, tuberose and several other important agriculture crops
in several regions of Tamil Nadu.

Key words : Biological invasion, ecosystems, giant African land snail, pest

INTRODUCTION

The giant African snail Achatina fulica

(Bowdich) is one of the worst 100 most invasive
species listed by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (Lowe et al., 2000). It
is a tropical polyphagous crop pest found to be
feeding on more than five hundred species of
plants globally which includes agriculture
crops, horticulture and ornamental plants
(Fig. 1). A. fulica is one of the secondary hosts Fig. 1. Giant African snail Achatina fulica.
o f the rat l u n gw o rm Ang io stro ng ylus hermaphroditic, A. fulica cross-fertilizes and
cantonensis wh ich cau se s eo sin ophi li c lays eggs 8-20 days after mating. The number
meningitis in human beings. The snail has of eggs laid can vary depending on the age of
been extensively studied because of its the snail but can reach up to 1800 in a year
economic, ecological and health impacts. The in a tropical setting. If conditions become
snail has a life span of 5-6 years and sexually unfavourable, the snail can aestivate by
mature as early as five months. The snail is burrowing underground and covering its shell
a protandrous simultaneously hermaphroditic opening with a calcareous membrane, called
land snail (To miyama, 1996). Although an epiph rag m, until such ti me til l the
2
71, South Agraharam, Watrap-626132, Tamil Nadu, India.
 Management of invasion of the giant African snails in crops in Tamil Nadu
favourable climatic conditions return (Mead,
1979; Raut and Barker, 2002).
The snails were introduced into India
by the British malacologist W. H. Benson in
1847 into Calcutta (Naggs, 1997). It was
believed that the first set of snails has reached
India from Mauritius. Later the snails were
spread to North and North East India. In South
India, the snails were first introduced in the
‘My lady garden’ in Madras, which is some 1600
km south of the original place of invasion in
Calcutta during the British period. But the
exact year of introduction in South India is
not known and probably the snails were
introduced before 1940 in Madras. The snails
were then established in various parts of
Madras and to a large number of gardens
throughout the city. In 1966 during an
exhibition, a student brought the snails from
Snake Park in Madras and released them in
the Christian College campus at Tambaram.
During the 1980s the snail was found in large
numbers in the Christian College campus and
researchers carried these snails to different
laboratories in the state of Tamil Nadu from
the stock population. Research accounts
confirm that the snails were introduced into
another University Campus for research
purposes in 1942 (Meenakshi, 1951; Natarajan,
1960; Raut and Ghose, 1984). From this
university, the snail was believed to get
transported to the neighbouring state of Kerala.
Now many parts of Tamil Nadu are being
infested with Giant African snails. The major
localities of infestation are the districts of
Coimbatore, Pollachi and Erode. In Tamil Nadu,
the snail was found to be infecting agriculture,
floriculture and horticulture. The Giant
African snail infestation has been recorded
from the neighbouring districts of Kerala,
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh also. In Kerala
the home gardens are mainly affected by the
sn ai ls i n Karn ataka mai nl y mu lberry
plantations are affected by the snails and in
Andhra Pradesh, the coffee plantations are
getting affected. This study aims at identifying
the major localities of the Giant African Snail
infestation in Tamil Nadu, to identify the major
agricultural, horticultural and floricultural
crops got affected by the snail and developing
an economically feasible control method for
effectively manage the invasion of the giant
African snails.
259
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Study Area
Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost
region of the Indian subcontinent between 8°
05' and 13° 34' North latitudes and 76° 14' and
80° 21' East longitudes with an average
elevation of 453 metres above sea level. The
state borders Andhra Pradesh on the North,
Karnataka on the North-West, Kerala on The
West, Bay of Bengal on the East and the Indian
Ocean on the South. The state covers an area
of 1.3 lakh square kilometres which is about
4% of the country’s total area (Ramesh and
Tiwari, 1983). Out of the total 1.3 lakh square
kilometre area, 63 lakh hectare area is used
for agricultural practices. The state is the
eleventh populous state in India with a
population of more than 70 million. About 70%
of the state’s population is involved in
agricultural activities. The major crops of the
state are rice, sorghum, ragi, pearl millet,
maize and pulses and cotton, sugarcane, tea
and coffee and coconut are also cultivated. The
major horticultural crops include mango and
banana and oil crops like groundnut, sesame,
and sunflower are also cultivated. Paddy is the
most leading crop in Tamil Nadu.
Surveys and Sample Collection
Field surveys in Tamil Nadu were
conducted during the years 2016 to 2018. The
information on the past distribution of the snail
was collated from literature surveys, sieving
through natural history museum collections
in colleges and Universities and exploring
online databases like Indian Biodiversity Portal
etc. In addition to that, an advertisement was
circulated in electronic and social media
regarding the menace this snail causes. A
phone contact number was provided with the
flyer to get feedback on the snail reports from
different places. Once a response comes, the
contact was established and the locality was
visited and th e pre sence of sn ails was
confirmed. The geo-coordinates of the infested
localities were taken with the help of a
handheld Global Positioning System (GPS)
Garmin Oregon 650. The coordinates were
late r tran sforme d i nto a Ge og raph ical
Information System (GIS) for mapping. In
260 Vijayan, Mahendhiran and Suganthasakthivel
addition to this, the crop affected by the snail,
the extent of damage, the control measure they
are at that point of time practising to control
the snails and the invasion history were also
noted. The stakeholders were sensitized with
the cost-effective methods and integrated
control measures developed in Kerala to
di ssemin ate th e kn ow le dg e to the
agriculturalists in Tamil Nadu to control and
manage the Giant African Snail invasion. The
control methods were translated into Tamil
and distributed. Various media personnel and
naturalists were also been involved in the field
visits to sensitize the Giant African Snail
in vasion. Re pre sentati ve samples we re
collected from the infested locations and are
directly preserved in 70% ethanol for DNA
isolation.
DNA Isolation, PCR Amplification and
Sequencing
Approximately 0.5 g of tissue was cut
from the foot muscle tissue of each snail. The
tissue was later subjected to DNA isolation
using Qiagen DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kit
following the manufacturer’s protocols available
with the kit. The quality of the obtained DNA
was detected using agarose gel electrophoresis
and a nanodrop. The isolated DNA from snail
tissue was used for further PCR amplification
and sequencing. The universal DNA primers
5’-TCAACGAATCATAAGGATATTGG-3’, sense;
5’ AATTAAAATATATACTTCTGGGTG-3’ anti-
sense were used to amplify approximately 600
bp of the Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I gene
(COI). The PCR amplification was carried with
0.2 mM each of the primer, 0.5 U Taq DNA
Polymerase, 5 µL DNTP mix, 8 µL of Taq Buffer
A with MgCl2 and 2 ml DNA sample made up
to a final 50 µL volume using sterile double
distilled water. The PCR conditions were
standardized as 94°C for 2 min and 38 cycles
of 94°C for 30 s, 48°C for 30 s and 65°C for 1
min with a final elongation of 65°C for 10
minutes. PCR amplification was carried out
in an Applied Biosystems veriti Dx Thermal
Cycler. The obtained PCR products were
visualized using a 1.2% agarose gel in a Life
technology E-Gel Imager. The specific PCR
bands were extracted from the gel using the
Invitrogen™ PureLink™ Quick Gel Extraction
Kit and the sequencing of the PCR product was
do ne throu gh service providers. The
sequences were trimmed using BioEdit,
aligned using Clustal W and assembled
manually in MEGA. A sequence similarity
search was done in GenBank for further
analyses. The haplotype diversities and the
nucleotide diversities of the sequences were
computed using the tool DNAsp Version 6.12
(Rozas et al., 2017).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The giant African snail infestation has
been recorded from 29 localities in 9 districts
of Tamil Nadu as of June 2021 (Fig. 2 and Table
1). The districts are Chennai, Kanchipuram,
Viluppuram, Cuddalore, Erode, Coimbatore,
Dindigul, Madurai and Tirunelveli. Coimbatore
district is having the highest number of
infestation localities with the presence of
snails in 8 different localities located far away
from each other. This was followed by Erode
districts with 7 different localities, Chennai,
Kanchipuram and Tirunelveli districts with 3
localities each and the rest of the three
districts Villupuram, Dindigul with two
localities and Cuddalore and Madurai with one
locality each with the Giant African Snails.
The snails are persisting in the earlier
introduced localities during the 1940s in the
Chennai and Cuddalore districts even today.
From the two districts, the snail had been
spread into additional 6 districts as of today.
As this study has largely dependent on the
responses through advertisements in media,
the possible presence of the snail infestation
in other districts of Tamil Nadu also cannot be
ruled out.
From all the snails collected, DNA was
isol ated and PCR ampl ifi cati on w as
successfully done in fifteen samples. 500 to
600 bp of the COI gene was obtained through
sequencing of these fifteen samples. The blast
search in NCBI GenBank showed that all the
sequences obtained showed 98 to 100%
similarity with the L. fulica COI sequences
from different parts of the world. Three distinct
haplotypes were identified from the fifteen
sequences. The haplotype 5 identified in this
study is the most common haplotype in Tamil
Nadu (NCBI accession no. LC440023) and two
other haplotypes are 9 (NCBI: LC440027) and
12 (NCBI: LC440030). The overall haplotype
and nucleotide diversities calculated were
0.257 an d 0.002 respe ctivel y. Thi s is
 Management of invasion of the giant African snails in crops in Tamil Nadu 261

Fig. 2. Map showing the distribution of the giant African snail infestation in Tamil Nadu.
comparable with the other available estimates from and Middle East Asian haplotype with six
from other parts of the world and India (Woogeng variable sites. This might be due to multiple
et al., 2017; Vijayan et al., 2020). An interesting waves of invasion of snails into Tamil Nadu
point is that one of the haplotype 9 identified after its first introduction in the 1920s.
from Coimbatore was found to be descended The Giant African Snails are found to
262 Vijayan, Mahendhiran and Suganthasakthivel

be causing severe damage to vegetable and Tindivanam of Viluppuram district, Alandurai

other cash crops, floriculture, sericulture and
human inhabitations in Tamil Nadu (Table 1).
It was noticed from the field visits that the
snail populations which is present in the
urban habitation are merely a menace to
human inhabitation since there are no home
gardens or other cultivations. These types of
problems were seen along with the snail
infested localities in and around Chennai city.
But the snail acts as a major pest of mulberry
in the mulberry clusters of Erode district. The
authorities in the Silk Board on personal
communication informed about the presence
of the snails in the mulberry plants are making
a severe economic loss to the farmers since
the snails are feeding voraciously on the young
mulberry leaves, which are the main feeding
parts for the silkworms. In the mulberry
clusters, along with the mulberry plants,
banana and betel wines are also getting
damaged by the Giant African Snails. The
snails feed on the sap from the stem of the
banana plant and feed on the banana leaves.
This makes the plants susceptible to wilting
at an early stage and also makes the leaves
un usable for any othe r pu rposes. In
Table 1. Giant African snail infested localities and type of infestations in Tamil Nadu
of Coimbatore district and Thottampalayam of
Erode district banana is the major affected crop.
The snail also damages areca nut and coconut
in Pongaliyur and Vairamangalam areas in
the Erode district. The presence of the snail
excreta in these crops reduces the value of
crops. In the Singanallur and Thudiyalur
regions of the Coimbatore district, the snails
were seen feeding on the crop tapioca and
causing total damage to the crop. In Pongaliyur
and Angalakurichi region in the Coimbatore
district, the snails are present in the paddy
fields, coconut groves and also in bananas. In
Periyakulam of Erode district, the snails are
found to be a major pest in the tuberose
cultivation of that area and a major pest in
the vegetable cultivations. The snails are found
to be causing enormous problems in the
vegetable farms of Velli yankadu i n the
Coimbatore district.
Another interesting observation from
Periyakulam near Sathyamangalam in the
Erode district of Tamil Nadu is the co-
occurrence of two more species of snails viz.,
Ariophanta bistrialis and Ariophanta sps. The
first species is found to be a pest on banana

No. District Locality Pest status/Crop infested

1 Chennai My lady garden General pest near human habitations

2 Chennai Theosophical Society General pest near human habitations
3 Chennai Manapakkam General pest near human habitations
4 Kanchipuram Nanmangalam General pest near human habitations
5 Kanchipuram East Tambaram General pest near human habitations
6 Kanchipuram Pallikkaranai General pest near human habitations
7 Villupuram Tindivanam Banana
8 Cudallore Annamalai Nagar Menace to human habitation
9 Erode Konamoolai Mulberry and Banana
10 Erode Aapakoodal Mulberry and Banana
11 Erode Kombuthottam Mulberry, Betal vine and Banana
12 Erode Thottampalayam Banana, Cereal crops
13 Erode Kenjanur Mulberry and Banana
14 Erode Periyakulam Vegetable crops, Banana, Tuberose and Coconut
15 Erode Vairamangalam Arecanut and Banana
16 Coimbatore KG Pudur Coconut and Banana
17 Coimbatore Singanallur Tapioca
18 Coimbatore Thudiyalur Tapioca, Banana and Arecanut
19 Coimbatore Angalakurichi Paddy, Banana and Coconut
20 Coimbatore Alandurai Banana
21 Coimbatore Pongaliyur Paddy, Banana and Coconut
22 Coimbatore Valanthayamaram Banana and Coconut
23 Coimbatore Velliyankadu Vegetable crops and Banana
24 Dindigul Muthalagupatty Banana, Paddy and Vegetable crops
25 Dindigul Vellodu Amaranthus sps. Vegetable crops
26 Madurai Paravai Banana, Paddy
27 Tirunelveli Kunnathur Farm Banana and Coconut
28 Tirunelveli Kunnathur Paddy
29 Tirunelveli Chennalpatti Banana
 Management of invasion of the giant African snails in crops in Tamil Nadu
and coconut and the later one is feeding mainly
on some vegetable crops and the calcium
hydroxide which is present on the walls of the
rural homes. Usually, the snails being the
moisture-loving creatures, found to be crawling
unusually at very hot daytime in Tamil Nadu.
This is found to be an adaptation of the invasive
species to fit itself to the environmental
conditions in which it is living. But mostly in
Tamil Nadu, the snail populations are found
to be higher in those areas where there is
sufficient moisture is present. This was due
to the good irrigation of the crops in fields
especially adjacent to the irrigated river
valleys. During the extreme summer season,
the snails are found to be hiding under coconut
husks, coconut leaves or other materials
which were dumped in shady areas.
The spread of the snails in Tamil Nadu
is found to be different in different places.
Main ly the mo ve me nt o f the snail s is
happening through the movement of the plant
mate ri al s. I n the mul be rry clu sters of
Gobichettypalayam in Erode district, the snails
are being transported from one place to another
is through the exchange of plant materials
especially the transport of mulberry seedlings
from the n ursery to the cl uste rs for
establishment. The transportation of soil,
manure and other materials between places,
which is contaminated with snail eggs or live
young snails had also resulted in the spread of
the snail across Tamil Nadu. The snails also
hitchhike on vehicles and get transported from
one place to another. In some places, it was
noticed that children carry the snails as
curious materials between places locally.
The neighbouring states of Kerala and
Karnataka are also experiencing the Giant
African Snail infestation on a large scale. In
the state of Kerala, the snails are mainly
affecting the home gardens and act as a
menace to human habitation. In Kerala, the
Giant African Snails are found in larger
numbers in most of the neighbouring districts
of Tamil Nadu. The Giant African snails were
observed first in the Kolar district of Karnataka
as mere harmless creatures by the farmers
and later they were found to be producing a
high amount of crop loss and damage to the
local agricultural farms. The problem was
revealed in a study conducted in Melthayaluru
village in Mulbagal taluk of Kolar district
(Sridhar et al., 2012). Karnataka is widely
263
invaded by this snail. In Karnataka the first
report of the snail affecting ornamental plants
and vegetables in Bangalore (Veeresh et al.,
1979). Shree et al. (2006) and Basavaraju et al.
(2010) reported the invasion of giant African
snails in different agriculture and horticulture
crops in Karnataka including commercial
crops, vegetable crops and ornamental crops.
In Hubballi taluk severe infestation of the snail
is prevailing along the drainage canal covering
Mavanur, Katnur, Giriyal, Veeralapur and
other villages. Shree et al. (2006) reported the
presence of the invasive snail in the mulberry
gardens of Koratagere and Madhugiri Taluk.
Mallekavu, Beerdevanahalli, Sukakallupalya,
Reddihalli, Doganahalli are some of the
infested places in the Koratagere district
wh ereas th e infeste d lo cal itie s of the
Madhugiri Taluk are Byala, Kodiyapura,
Puravara, Kalenahalli etc. The snail has
infested the mulberry gardens of the Bangalore
rural, Ramanagaram, Mandya and Tumkur.
The snail is also found to be present on crops
like coffee, mango, papaya, rubber, cotton,
coconut, sunflower, gram, beans, peas, brinjal,
pumpkin, cucumber, cabbage, cauliflower,
sponge gourd, ladies finger, banana, ragi,
marigold, mulberry etc. (Narendrakumar et al.,
2011). The snail is causing considerable
damage to th e se ricul tu re i ndustry in
Ramanagaram district of Karnataka. The
infestation is high from July to December
(Ramanjaneyulu et al., 2011). The molluscan
pest is found to be causing damage to local
vegetation and mulberry plants in Hoskote.
They are found to be attacking the mulberry
plants after dusk (Sreenivas et al., 2011).
Sridhar et al. (2012) reported the
possibility of the Giant African Snail shell
acting as a breeding house for the mosquitos.
They argue that the shell and the meat
solution of the mosquito acting as a good
breeding house for the mosquito. This is of very
much epidemiological importance. Field
observations showed the presence of the snail
in Dharwad, Honali, Chickodi and Mudhol in
Karnataka State. High incidence of the snail
entering and devastating coffee plantations in
Visakh Agency areas of Andhra Pradesh. The
ne arby are as of thi s pl antatio n li ke
Arakuvalley, Padmapuram Gardens, Attaguda
AASAV, Malivalasa, Tudum and Chompi,
Ye ndapal li valasa, Kothavalasa, Araku,
Thuraiguda, Karaiguda etc. In these places, it
264 Vijayan, Mahendhiran and Suganthasakthivel
is believed that the snail has been noticed in
these areas since 1996 and it was brought by
some farmer from Orissa because he was
fascinated with the giant African snail (Reddy
and Sreedharan, 2006).
Th e othe r records o f the snail
infestation in Tamil Nadu are on banana
plantations (Padmanaban, 2000) and vanilla
plantations (Vanitha et al., 2010). In the vanilla
plantations in Valanthayamaram and Kotur in
Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, the snails
mostly prefer to feed on the terminal leaves of
the vanilla plants. The snails also prefer
cauliflower and cabbage leaves (Vanitha et al.,
2011). Padmanaban (2000) describes the
severity of the infestation of the giant African
snail in a banana plantation in Villupuram
District in Tamil Nadu. He found two to eight
snails per plant of banana and two to six leaves
per plant were damaged by the snail.
Th e farmers in Tami l Nadu are
adopting different strategies to contain the
snails. In most places, they are using salt to
kill the snails. Salt causes dehydration to the
snail and kills it. But the snails which have
got killed using salt may produce a foul smell,
lead to bacterial growth and makes the soil
alkaline. In some parts of Tamil Nadu, the
farmers used to collect the snails in a sack
and throw them down into rivers alive. This
would help the snails to get transported to
different areas along with the river courses
and get themselves established in a previously
not infested area. The most serious method of
killing the snail was observed from one
mulberry cluster in Tamil Nadu, where they
are using a chemical called ‘Snail Kill’ to
vanquish the population. The major chemical
in the snail kill was found to be metaldehyde,
a serious poison, which may cause the death
of domestic animals and even small children
also if it is ingested. We had recommended the
management method which was successfully
implemented in Kerala to eradicate the Giant
African Snails. The management protocol
included continuous monitoring of the snail
po pu lati on and the appl icatio n of the
molluscicidal tobacco decoction copper sulphate
solution (TDCS). The management strategy
recommended during the field visit to the
farmers we re i mplemen te d in vario us
pl an tati on s of Sath yamang al am and
Coimbatore and some households of Chennai.
In the implemented places in Tamil Nadu, the
application of the molluscicide was also
successful and reduced the number of snails
considerably. The further spread of the snails
to other un-infested areas has to be controlled
also. This could be achieved through creating
public awareness among the people about the
de vastati ng effect of thi s snai l, proper
management strategies and participatory
management of the species.
CONCLUSION
Along with the damages caused to
agriculture, sericulture and horticulture and
human inhabitations, the snail is also acting
as a secondary host of the rat lungworm
Angiostrong ylus cantonensis, causin g
eosinophilic meningitis in children. The
haplotype and nucleotide diversities are found
to be low when compared to other geographical
regions. Certain haplotypes present in Tamil
Nadu has descended from the haplotypes
reported from Middle East Asia with several
mutations. The study has recorded that L.
fulica now is an established pest in paddy,
mulberry, banana, coconut, vegetable crops,
tapioca, tuberose and several other important
agriculture crops in several regions of Tamil
Nadu. So, to control the snail population and
to reduce the economic loss caused by the
in vasi ve specie s on the ag ri cu ltural
ecosyste ms of Tamil Nadu , a safe r,
environmentally friendly and effective control
strategy has to be adopted and implemented.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank Dr N. Dhahira
Beevi of Silk Board and Messrs Ka. Su.
Ve layu dh am o f ‘The Tamil H in du ’,
Ramachandran, Nicholas, Santhala and R. Sasi
for their help with the field surveys in Tamil
Nadu. We would also like to thank the Kerala
State Council for Science, Technology and
Environment (KSCSTE) for the funding of this
research project, especially Dr. K. R. Lekha of
the Woman Science Division of KSCSTE for
her help and support.
REFERENCES
Basavaraju, B. S., Girish, A. C., Thyagaraj, N. E.
and Chakravarty, A. K. (2010). Giant
Africansnail, Achatina fulica Bowdich: A
 Management of invasion of the giant African snails in crops in Tamil Nadu
me nac e in Has san district, sou the rn
transitional zone of Karnataka: A Survey.
Paper presented In: 34th Ann. Conf. of
ethological Society of India and Colloquium
on Etholo gy f rom org anis m D own to
Ethobiomolecule, Centre for Arthropod
Bioresources and Biotechnology (CABB),
University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram
and Ethological Society of India.16 (18).
pp. 38.
Lowe, S., Browne M., Boudjelas S. and De Poorter,
M. (2000) . 100 of the Worl d’s Wo rst
Invasive Alien Species A selection from the
Gl obal Invasi ve Spe c ie s Dat abas e .
Pu blis he d by The Inv asiv e Spe ci e s
Specialist Group (ISSG) a specialist group
of the Species Survival Commission (SSC)
of the World Conservation Union (IUCN).
pp. 12.
Mead, A. R. (1979). Economic malacology with
particular reference to Achatina fulica. In:
Pulmonates, Ed. Fretter, V. and Peake,
Journal of Academic Press, London. Pp.
150.
Meenakshi, V. R. (1951). The distribution of vitamin
C in some common gastropods and its
bi osynthe sis in Pil a vi re ns L amarck
(MOLLUSCA-GASTROPODA). Curr. Sci. 5 :
136-37.
Naggs, F. (1997). William Benson and the early
study of land snails in British India and
Ceylon. Arch. Nat. History. 24 : 37-88.
Narendrakumar, J. B., Shekhar, M. A. and Qadri,
S. M. H. (2011). Giant African snail in
mulberry. Physiol. Manage. Ind. Silk. 1 : 4-
5.
Natarajan, R. (1960). Further cytological studies
in Pulmonata (Mollusca: Gastropoda). J.
Zool. Soc. Ind. 12 : 69-79.
Padmanaban, B., Thangavelu, R. and Sundararaju,
P. (2000). Occurrence of giant African snail,
Achatina fulica on banana (Tamil Nadu).
Indian J. Entomol. 62 : 95-97.
Ramanjane yulu, H. S., Sarvamangala, H. S.,
Vijayakumar, H. V. and Subrahmanyam, M.
R. (2011). Giant African snail strolls in
mulberry garden. Ind. Silk. 1 : 6-8.
Ramesh, A. and Tiwari, P. S. (1983). Basic resource
atlas of Tamil Nadu. Dept. of Geography,
University of Madras, Chennai, India.
Raut, S. K. and G.M. Barker. (2002). Achatina fulica
Bowdich and other Achatinidae as pests
in tropical agriculture. In: Barker, G.M.
(e d. ) Mollus cs as Crop P ests. CAB
International Publishing, Wallingford. Pp.
55-114.
Raut, S. K. and Ghose, K. C. (1984). Pestiferous
land snails of India. Zoological survey of
India, Bani Press, Calcutta. pp. 151.
Reddy, K. B. and Sreedharan, K. (2006). Record of
giant African snail, Achatina fulica Bowdich
265
on coffee in Visakha agency areas, Andhra
Pradesh. Ind. Coffee. 70 : 17-19.
Rozas, J., Ferrer-Mata, A., Sanchez-DelBarrio, J.
C., Guirao Rico, S., Librado, P., Ramos-
Onsins, S. E. and Sánchez-Gracia A.
(2 017) . D naSP 6: DNA se que nce
polymorphism analysis of large data sets.
Mol. Biol. Evolution. 34 : 3299-302.
Shree, M. P., Ravi Kumar, K. and Nagaveni, V.
(2006). Infestation of giant African snail
on mulberry. Ind. Silk. 45 : 14-16.
Sreenivas, B. T., Shekhar, K. V., Anantharaman,
K. V. and Narendrakumar, J. B. (2011).
Giant African snail infestation in Hoskote
too. Ind. Silk. 1 : 9.
Sridhar, V., Jayashankar, M., Vinesh, L. S. and
Abraham, V. (2012). Severe occurrence of
the giant African snail, Achatina fulica
(Bowdich) (Stylommatophora: Achatinidae)
in Kolar District, Karnataka. Pest Manage.
Hortic. Ecosystems. 18 : 228-30.
Tomiyama (1996). Mate Choice Criteria in a
Protandrous Simultaneosly Hermaphroditic
Land Snail Achatina fulica (Fe rrusac)
(Stylo mmatophora: Ac hati nid ae ). J.
Molluscan Stud. 62 : 101-11.
Vanitha, K., Karappuchamy, P., Sivasubramanian,
P. and Vidya, D. (2010). Comparative
effectiveness of certain botanicals and bait
substances against giant African snail
attackingVanilla. In: Proceedings of the.
Non-Chemical Insect Pest Management,
Elite Publishing House, Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi. pp. 75-77.
Vanitha, K., Karu ppu cham y, P. and
Sivasubramaniam, P. (2011). Record of
gastropod pe st s on vanilla and the ir
population dynamics in relation to weather
parame t e rs. Pest Manage. Ho rtic.
Ecosystems. 17 : 56-59.
Veeresh, G. K., Rajagopal, D. and Puttarudraiah,
M. (1979). First record of African giant
snail, Achatina fulica Bowdich (Mollusca:
Gastro pod a) as a se riou s p e st of
ornamental crops in Bangalore. Curr. Res.
8 : 202-04.
Vijayan, K., Suganthasakthivel, R., Sajeev, T. V.,
Soorae, P. S., Naggs, F. and Wade, C. M.
(2020). Genetic variation in the giant
African snail Lissachatina fulica (Bowdich,
1822) in the invasive ranges of Asia and
West Africa. Biol. J. Linnean Soc. 131 : 973-
85.
Woogeng, I. N., Coetzer, W. G., Etchu, K. A.,
Ndamukong, K. J. N. and Grobler, J. P.
(2 017) . Curre nt pat te rns o f g e ne t ic
diversity in indigenous and introduced
species of land snails in Cameroon reflect
isolation by distance, limited founder size
and known evolutionary relationships.
Mitochondrial DNA Part B: Res. 2 : 375-80.