
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 14, 1993                   TAG: 9307140402
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TRAINED EYES NAIL PESTY EUROPEAN SNAIL

Here's one snail that didn't move at its usual pace.

A Virginia Department of Agriculture worker moonlighting at a Hechingers store in Roanoke recently found a European brown garden snail among a shipment of jade plants and cactus gardens from a California company.

Recognizing the Helix Aspersa for the pest it is, he brought it to the attention of his regular employer. State agriculture inspectors then found snails at 11 of the 14 Hechingers stores in the state.

If you find one, take it to an Virginia Cooperative Extension office so it can be sent to a lab for identification.

The European brown is large, chocolate brown with tan stripes, and loves a wide variety of garden plants, both flowers and vegetables.

Eric Day, entomologist for the extension office at Virginia Tech, said the snail can become a crop pest.

"Talk about your lucky break," Day said of the state worker who was holding down two jobs.

The worker declined to comment.

by CNB