Helix pachya

Helix pachya (Hebrew: שבלול החרמון) is a species of large, edible, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae, the typical snails. This species is endemic to Israel. It lives in the high northern part of Israel, typically in the Hermon ridge area.

Helix pachya
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Stylommatophora
Family:	Helicidae
Genus:	Helix
Species:	H. pachya
Binomial name
Helix pachya Bourguignat, 1860
Synonyms
Helix texta Mousson, 1861

It is the largest Israeli snail with a shell of diameter 55 mm. It is active during autumn (which is November in Israel), when it eats and mates. When the cold winter comes the snail enter hibernation until the next autumn. This snail lives several years and mates usually only a year after hatching from the egg. The size of the egg is 5.5 mm.^[1]

Recent studies determined that Helix texta is a synonym of Helix pachya.