Blink, and you’ll miss it! Not quite, in fact, the complete opposite. It comes as no surprise that snails are not the most rapid of animals out here, and so often they are overlooked. Well, I can tell you that on a recent walk, a pair of snails was certainly not overlooked. In fact, they probably got too much attention, and the paparazzi were out, all guns blazing.

We have been fortunate enough to receive a good amount of rain, but when the rain stops, the skies clear, and the sun comes out, a certain humidity starts to blanket the Lowveld.

We have been fortunate to receive such good rains to start off the summer season, so much so that all the little smaller animals and creepy crawlies are out and about making the most of all the moisture. 

If you’ve spent enough time out here, you know this is the precursor to a whole other, silent world coming to life. Insect life piques, all the creepy crawlies come out to play, and everything small and inconspicuous shows its face.

For those of you who missed our recent virtual safaris, there’s been a notable uptick in gastropod activity; a sure sign they’re making the most of the abundant moisture. While on our walk, we found two massive, Giant African Land Snails in a slow-motion, highly complex, and frankly bizarre ritual of connection.

The first sight we had of these two giant land snails involved in something remarkably unique. THE first time I had witnessed anything as bizarre as this.

So let’s unpack the specifics of how two creatures, who are also effectively one creature, decide to make more creatures. It’s not fast, but it is one hell of a story.

When Hermaphrodites Hit the Dating Scene

The first thing to understand about the Giant African Land Snail is the biology that sets up the drama: they are hermaphrodites. They come equipped with both male and female reproductive organs. This means any two mature snails can potentially mate, and, crucially, both can lay eggs.

Their process of finding a mate is wonderfully grounded—they use their chemical senses, mainly olfaction, to follow the mucus trails of another mature snail.

The Slow, Tactile Dance

Once they find a compatible partner, the courtship begins. It’s a deliberate affair that can last up to half an hour. Think of it as a highly focused, slow-motion silent disco. They approach each other and start a period of mutual exploration, using their tentacles and the front of their bodies in gentle, tactile ‘petting.’

Often, though not always, one snail will mount the shell of the other. It looks a bit like piggyback riding, but the key reproductive parts are near the head, behind the right eye stalk, so being on top doesn’t dictate who is playing which role.

The Sexual Conflict and the “Love Dart”

Now, here’s where things get interesting and slightly snarky. While the specifics behind African Giant Land Snails using the calcified ‘love dart’ seen in other species (like the common garden snail) were very difficult to come by, I think what we witnessed was certainly the process of one snail after having jabbed the other with the love dart. And please, if you know better, chime in in the comments to tell me what is going on here.

The long greenish-looking thing, I believe, is the gybsobelum or dart sac. With the tip that is lighter in colour being where the love dart was administered from.

Many snail species possess what is known as a love dart, which is a sharp, calcareous stylet fired right into the partner’s body wall. This actually has nothing to do with the act of mating and is not for sperm transfer. It’s for chemical manipulation. The dart is coated in an allohormone—a compound that enters the recipient and essentially tells their reproductive system to stop digesting the incoming sperm so quickly. It’s a manipulative tactic designed to increase the dart-shooter’s chances of paternity success at the expense of the recipient’s female function. A bizarre form of chemical warfare, all in the name of ensuring one’s genetic legacy.

The gybsobelum fully visible here.

So after the dart is fired through the extension of the lengthy dart sac, or gybsobelum. The process of mating can commence. The dart is not always utilised and is not vital for the mating process, which is the tricky bit.

The Mating Act

They need to manoeuvre their bodies so the genital apertures (openings) are aligned. This is the biological equivalent of trying to plug a complex charger into a port hidden under the bed. In most snails, the genital openings are found on the right side of the head, just behind the right eyestalk, close to the mantle edge.

I believe that the white circular spot just below the eye stalk is the genital opening.

Each snail everts its penis from its genital pore. The two snails join these white, muscular protrusions in a reciprocal exchange of sperm. Since they are both equipped, they typically act as the male, donating sperm, and the female, receiving it, simultaneously, a truly bilateral transfer.

The copulation itself can be lengthy, sometimes lasting several hours. If there’s a significant size difference, the younger/smaller snail might only act as the male, making the transfer unilateral, which is a pragmatic move in resource allocation.

Once the sperm is transferred, the recipient stores it in a specialised organ, ready for fertilisation. The remarkable part? If the love-dart was administered, the recipient can hold that sperm for a very long time, up to two years in some records, allowing them to fertilise multiple batches of eggs over subsequent clutches. This is a brilliant survival mechanism. They only need one successful “date” to potentially sustain their breeding for two dry seasons.

So, a truly remarkable adaptation for such slow-moving creatures that do not come across other snails all that often, and for us to discover them while out and about on a walk was the greatest part about being out here and immersing ourselves in the wonders that the bush has to offer at this time of year.