Depending on the manufacturing process, enantiopure forms can be more expensive to produce than stereochemical mixtures. Chiral preferences can also be found at a macroscopic level. Snail shells can be right-turning or left-turning helices, but one form or the other is strongly preferred in a given species. In the edible snail Helix pomatia, only one out of 20,000 is left-helical.
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In some locations, marine protected areas have been established where no collecting is permitted. The benefits of protected areas may spill over to positively impact adjacent unprotected areas. For example, a greater number of larger egg capsules of the edible snail Concholepus in protected vs. non-protected areas in Chile indicates that these protected areas may help replenish snail stocks in areas open to harvesting.
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Tharu people of Nepal have different and special food items like Bagiya or Dhikri and ghonghi, an edible snail collected in water bodies. Dhikri is made of rice flour. The dough from the rice flour is given different shapes – many are stick-like but some are also given the shapes of birds, fish and animals. It is cooked over steam and eaten together with chutney or curry.
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Rhinophores of Aplysia californica. The upper pair of tentacles on the head of the edible snail Helix pomatia have eyes, but the main sensory organs are sensory neurons for olfaction in the epithelium of the tentacles. In terrestrial gastropods the most important sensory organs are the olfactory organs which are located on the tips of the 4 tentacles. Some terrestrial gastropods can track the odor of food using their tentacles (tropotaxis) and the wind (anemotaxis).
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Helix pomatia, common names the Roman snail, Burgundy snail, edible snail or escargot, is a species of large, edible, air-breathing land snail, a pulmonate gastropod terrestrial mollusc in the family Helicidae. It is a European species. In the English language it is called by the French name escargot when used in cooking (escargot simply means 'snail'). Although this species is highly prized as a food, it is difficult to cultivate and rarely farmed commercially.
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SEM image of lateral view of a love dart of the land snail Monachoides vicinus. The scale bar is 500 μm (0.5 mm). Drawing showing a side view of the love dart of the edible snail Helix pomatia. 1 = flared base of the dart 2 = position of the inner cavity 3 = longitudinal flanges or vanes 4 = sharp tip or blade of the dart A love dart from Cornu aspersum (garden snail) on a ruler for comparison, showing its length of 7 mm.
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Laportea aestuans (Urtica aestuans), the West Indian woodnettle, is an annual herb of the Urticaceae or nettle family. It is possibly native to tropical Africa, although it now is widespread as an introduced species throughout both the western hemisphere and eastern hemisphere tropics and subtropics, including the USA (California, Florida, Puerto Rico), Central America, the West Indies, India, Sumatra and Java. L. aestuans is a food plant for an edible snail, Archachatina ventricosa, native to parts of coastal West Africa. It is a weedy species in Taiwan.
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The Romans introduced a number of species to Britain, including possibly the now-rare Roman nettle (Urtica pilulifera), said to have been used by soldiers to warm their arms and legs, and the edible snail Helix pomatia. There is also some evidence they may have introduced rabbits, but of the smaller southern mediterranean type. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) prevalent in modern Britain is assumed to have been introduced from the continent after the Norman invasion of 1066. Box (Buxus sempervirens) is rarely recorded before the Roman period, but becomes a common find in towns and villas.
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The lower, flatter portion of the river flows by Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge and many taro farms (60% of Hawaii's taro is grown in this area). The Hanalei River provides habitat for a number of amphidromous species, including gobies (5 native varieties), two native species of crustacean, the hīhīwai (Neritina granosa, an edible snail), and in its upper reaches, a threatened species of highly adapted snail (Newcomb's snail, Erinna newcombi). The Hanalei was designated an American Heritage River by US President Bill Clinton on July 30, 1998. The major bridge across the river (still one lane) is on Hawaii Route 560, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Hawaii.
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Courtship in the edible snail, Helix pomatia Drawing of the head of a Helix pomatia prior to mating, showing the everted penis, and the dart sac in the process of shooting a love dart. S – dart sac (bursa telae) D – love dart P – penis Mating begins with a courting ritual. For example, in land snails of the genus Helix, including the escargot Helix pomatia, and the common garden snail Helix aspersa (also known as Cornu aspersum and Cantareus aspersus), copulation is preceded by an elaborate tactile courtship. The two snails circle around each other for up to six hours, touching with their tentacles, and biting lips and the area of the genital pore, which shows some preliminary signs of the eversion of the penis.
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