Anti-predatory behaviour of a land snail Bensonies monticola W.H. Benson, 1838 (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Ariophantidae) against an Aphaenogaster sp. (Arthropoda, Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Western Himalaya, India

Abstract

Predator-prey interactions are key drivers of defensive trait evolution in animals, including terrestrial gastropods. These snails have evolved a diverse range of defensive mechanisms which we broadly categorised as behavioural, morphological, and chemical strategies. Majority of the studies have focused on interactions with vertebrate or beetle predators, whereas interactions with social insects such as ants remain poorly documented. Here, we report a novel case of anti-predatory behaviour in the ariophantid snail Bensonies monticola W.H. Benson, 1838, from the Western Himalaya, India. During an encounter with an undescribed Aphaenogaster ant nest, the snail secreted frothy mucus that rapidly entrapped and immobilized multiple ants, leading to their mortality. This observation highlights a specialized adaptation against ant predation and represents the first documented ant-snail interaction for B. monticola. This finding expands the known repertoire of snail defence strategies and underscores the need for further studies on ant-snail interactions.