Cardinal Click Beetle vs common door snail

Ampedus cardinalis compared with Clausilia bidentata

Key Differences

• Cardinal Click Beetle is Critically Endangered while common door snail is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Cardinal Click Beetle	common door snail
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Mollusca (Mollusks)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Gastropoda (Gastropoda)
Order	Coleoptera (Beetles)	Stylommatophora (Stylommatophora)
Family	Elateridae	Clausiliidae
Genus	Ampedus	Clausilia
Species	Ampedus cardinalis	Clausilia bidentata

Evolutionary Relationship

Cardinal Click Beetle and common door snail share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Cardinal Click Beetle

CR — Critically Endangered

common door snail

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Cardinal Click Beetle	common door snail
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Cardinal Click Beetle

Habitat

Inhabits temperate coniferous forests within the Palearctic biogeographic realm.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

common door snail

Habitat

Typically found in terrestrial and aquatic habitats including forests and freshwater.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Cardinal Click Beetle

The Cardinal Click Beetle (Ampedus cardinalis) is a species in the genus Ampedus. It is currently classified as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List. Inhabits temperate coniferous forests within the Palearctic biogeographic realm.

common door snail

<em>Clausilia bidentata</em>, the common door snail, is a terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Clausiliidae. This species is distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, where it typically inhabits moist terrestrial environments including deciduous woodlands, rocky slopes, hedgerows, and the margins of freshwater habitats. The common door snail is recognized by its elongated, sinistral (left-handed) shell, which is a distinctive trait of the family Clausiliidae. The shell is typically brown to gray and reaches approximately 12–15 millimeters in length. <em>Clausilia bidentata</em> generally feeds on algae, lichens, fungi, and decaying plant material by rasping food with a radula. It often shelters under bark, stones, and leaf litter during dry or cold conditions. Like many clausiliids, it possesses a complex internal shell structure called a clausilium that closes the shell aperture to reduce desiccation. The species is assessed as Least Concern, reflecting stable populations across its European range. Detailed biological traits beyond those noted here are not extensively documented in the current scientific literature.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 3 countries:

🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden