“Hunter” Snail for N J
p. 88 · Read in the full issue
Guinea Indicated
The following item, from “Times magazine, suggests that a few specif mens of the hunting snail,” frorx the Marianas, could he introduces with profit to New Guinea, to dea> with the large snails taken ther\ by the Japanese during World Woe 11, and since multiplied to plaguv proportions.
Much of the $lO million the Ul T citrus industry spends annually o:c pest control goes towards fightinr the Helix aspersa, a common orchan variety of snail. The Helix feed] indiscriminately on leaves, twig and fruit.
Up to now, the industry has relief on expensive chemical dusts anr sprays; unfortunately, they must hi applied almost constantly and thes are only moderately effective.
Curtis P. Clausen, of thi University of California’s Depart' ment of Biological Control, has am nounced plans to fight the HeliJ with one of its own kind: thi Gonaxis kihweziensis, commonL known as the cannibal snail.
A native of East Africa, tli Gonaxis has a distinguished battle record against the giant Africas snail in the Mariana islands, in thi Pacific.
On Agiguan, in the Marianas, thi Gonaxis destroyed within two year nearly a million of the 5,000,001 African snails whose ancestors wei; brought in as emergency food tf the Japanese during World War IT When Clausen heard that 5,O0( Gonaxis snails had been rounded uj on Agiguan for anti-pest assign ments on other islands, he put i a bid for a consignment of 200, fo' California. Currently being fed o a diet of Helix snails in tlf University laboratories, they will If turned loose in the spring i selected orange and lemon grow from Santa Barbara to San Diegm The Gonaxis, less than an inoj long, attacks by attaching itself i the foot of the garden snail an devouring it alive with minute, filtl like teeth as it retreats into ii shell.
Colonel H. T. Allan and Mrs. Allas formerly of New Guinea, when lae heard of in January, were comfort ably ensconced in Torremolinos, nee Malaga, on the coast of Spar They were enjoying a “Northee NSW winter” while Britain suffers under smog and icy gales. Thr caravanned for 4,500 miles in Enr land, Scotland and Wales befoD taking their small car over im Western Europe; and they toum in several countries before followiil the sunshine down into Spain. Thr probably will return to NSW in mil 1956.