''Vespericola'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of air-breathing

land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as ...

s, terrestrial

pulmonate Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an order, and before that a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group includ ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

s in the family

Polygyridae Polygyridae is a family of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicoidea. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Polygyridae Pilsbry, 1895. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species a ...

Habitat

These snails are found along the Pacific Coast of North America, from southern

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

and

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Shell description

The shells of these small to medium, globose or depressed globose snails are usually some shade of brown, sometimes without apertural teeth and sometimes with a single tooth on the parietal wall. Small periostracal hairs may be observed on the shell surface of many specimens, but the shells otherwise resemble those of '' Praticolella'' or ''

Mesodon ''Mesodon'' is a genus of land snails in the family Polygyridae. Species Species within the genus ''Mesodon'' include:ITIS''Mesodon'' accessed 1 November 2008. * '' Mesodon altivagus'' (Pilsbry, 1900) – wandering globe * '' Mesodon andre ...

''.Pilsbry, Henry A. 1940. ''Land Mollusca of North America (North of Mexico)''. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Monograph 3, vol. 1(2): 892-912.

Anatomy

According to

Pilsbry Henry Augustus Pilsbry (7 December 1862 – 26 October 1957) was an American biologist, malacologist and carcinologist, among other areas of study. He was a dominant presence in many fields of invertebrate taxonomy for the better part of a centu ...

(1940), ''Vespericola'' "differs from all other Polygyridae by the possession of a well-developed though rather short verge, and by the peculiar shape of the epiphallus".

Species

Species within the genus ''Vespericola'' include:
''Vespericola'' at ''ITIS'' (''Integrated Taxonomic Information System''); accessed 5 Feb. 2008. *'' Vespericola armigera'' (Ancey, 1881) - Santa Cruz hesperian *'' Vespericola columbiana'' (I. Lea, 1838) - northwest hesperian **'' Vespericola columbiana depressa'' (Pilsbry & Henderson, 1936) **'' Vespericola columbiana latilabrum'' Pilsbry, 1940 *'' Vespericola eritrichius'' (Berry, 1939) - velvet hesperian *'' Vespericola hapla'' (Berry, 1933) - Butte Creek hesperian *'' Vespericola karokorum'' Talmadge, 1962 - Karok hesperian *'' Vespericola klamathicus'' Roth & W. B. Miller, 1995 - Klamath hesperia *'' Vespericola marinensis'' Roth & W. B. Miller, 1993 - Marin hesperian *'' Vespericola megasoma'' (Pilsbry, 1928) - redwood hesperian *'' Vespericola megasoma euthales'' (Berry, 1939) *'' Vespericola oria'' (Berry, 1933) - El Dorado hesperian *'' Vespericola pilosa'' (Henderson, 1928) - brushfield hesperian *'' Vespericola pinicola'' (Berry, 1916) - Monterey hesperian *'' Vespericola pressleyi'' Roth, 1985 - Big Bar hesperian *'' Vespericola rothi'' Cordero & W. B. Miller, 1995 - Ellery Creek hesperian *'' Vespericola scotti'' Cordero & W. B. Miller, 1995 - Benson Gulch hesperian *'' Vespericola shasta'' (Berry, 1921) - Shasta hesperian *'' Vespericola sierrana'' (Berry, 1921) - Siskiyou hesperian

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3075689 Polygyridae Gastropod genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot