Common corncockle vs common door snail

Agrostemma githago compared with Clausilia bidentata

Key Differences

• Common corncockle is Critically Endangered while common door snail is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common corncockle	common door snail
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Mollusca (Mollusks)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Gastropoda (Gastropoda)
Order	Caryophyllales (Caryophyllales)	Stylommatophora (Stylommatophora)
Family	Caryophyllaceae	Clausiliidae
Genus	Agrostemma	Clausilia
Species	Agrostemma githago	Clausilia bidentata

Conservation Status

Common corncockle

CR — Critically Endangered

common door snail

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common corncockle	common door snail
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common corncockle

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including montane grasslands and shrublands, tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, and temperate coniferous forests, among 13 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Lesotho), Asia (7 countries), Europe (24 countries), North America (Canada, Mexico, United States), Oceania and the Pacific (Australia), and South America (Brazil, Chile). 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.

Common corncockle

<em>Agrostemma githago</em>, commonly known as common corncockle, is an annual flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. Once a widespread weed of cereal crops across Europe, Asia, and beyond, this species is now Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to the dramatic decline caused by modern agricultural practices, particularly improved grain cleaning and herbicide use. Corncockle is a tall, slender plant covered in silky white hairs, bearing large, solitary pink to purple flowers with distinctive dark veining. Its seeds contain toxic saponin compounds called githagins, which historically contaminated grain supplies. The species now survives primarily in wildflower conservation areas, seed banks, and traditional farmland conservation schemes. It typically grows in open, disturbed arable soils with full sun exposure. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.

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 4 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden