This species in the USA is considered to represent a potentially serious threat as a pest, an invasive species which could negatively affect agriculture, natural ecosystems, human health or commerce. Therefore, it has been suggested that this species be given top national quarantine significance in the USA.[7]
Description
Shells of Xerolenta obvia are medium-sized (7–10 mm high, 14–20 mm wide) and relatively flat. In the adult stage, 5 to 6 turns are present. These shells are usually thick and smooth, with a white or yellowish-white basic color and quite variable, dark brown to almost black bands. The body is yellowish-brown.
^Menke C.T. (1828). Synopsis methodica molluscorum generum omnium et specierum earum, quae in museo Menkeano adservantur; cum synonymia critica et novarum specierum diagnosibus. pp. I-XII [= 1-12], 1-91. Pyrmonti. (Gelpke).
^Balashov I. & Gural-Sverlova N. 2012. An annotated checklist of the terrestrial molluscs of Ukraine. Journal of Conchology. 41 (1): 91-109.
^Grimm, F. W. & Wiggins, G.B. ([1975]). Colonies of the European snail Helicella obvia (Hartmann) in Ontario. The Canadian Field-Naturalist88 (4): 421–428.
^Forsyth, R.G., M.J. Oldham, E. Snyder, F.W. Schueler & R. Layberry (2015). Forty years later: distribution of the introduced Heath Snail, Xerolenta obvia, in Ontario, Canada (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Hygromiidae). Check List11(4): 1711. doi:10.15560/11.4.1711
^Cowie R. H., Dillon R. T., Robinson D. G. & Smith J. W. (2009). Alien non-marine snails and slugs of priority quarantine importance in the United States: A preliminary risk assessment. American Malacological Bulletin27: 113-132. PDF.
Westerlund, C. A. &. Blanc, H. (1879). Aperçu sur la faune malacologique de la Grèce inclus l'Epire et la Thessalie. Coquilles extramarines. 161 pp. + errata (1 pp.), pl. 1–4.
Bank, R. A. (2011). Authorships and publication dates in malacology: some notes on the 2011 French Checklist of Welter-Schultes & al. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Malakozoologischen Gesellschaft. 86: 13–24. Frankfurt am Main
Bank, R. A.; Neubert, E. (2017). Checklist of the land and freshwater Gastropoda of Europe. Last update: July 16, 2017
