Helix Aperta

The Helix Aperta, known as “Moachella” or “Monzetta”, is a species present in southern Europe and Northern African. Its natural habitat is the Mediterranean maquis, but it is also frequent in growing fields and gardens. It is known to seek shelter underground with the apex of the just surfacing shell exposed. Its coloration is yellowish, with a green-tinted juvenile shell that becomes brown in adulthood.It is sensitive to temperature and humidity so that it goes into hibernation if the environmental conditions are not ideal (too cold or too hot), or in summering (if it is too hold or dry), sheltering in a hole dug out of the ground, sealing the opening of the shell with a calcareous operculum.