Quick Gloss Snail

The native region of Z. arboreus is North America. It is widely distributed in all US states except Nevada. Wind Cave National Park, located in South Dakota, was found to have Z. arboreus in various soil samples. It is widespread and common in central British Columbia, specifically the Peace River-Northern Rockies region. The non-indigenous distribution includes:

introduced to Iceland Hungary Switzerland Czech Republic - non-indigenous in Moravia since 2006 Great Britain - non-indigenous as a "hothouse alien" Slovakia - non-indigenous as a "hothouse alien" Pratas Island, Taiwan New Zealand (North Island, South Island) Australia (New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria) and other parts of the world In most cases listed above (but not all of them), this species is a pest found in greenhouses.

The quick gloss snail goes through a sexual reproductive cycle that starts at the ovotestis, a gonad that shares qualities of both testes and ovaries. This occurs when ovarian tissue and testicular tissue are shared. The ovotestis is a lead-shaped organ that is adjacent to the liver. Attached to the ovotestis is a hermaphroditic duct that is narrow and leads to the accessory gland. The accessory gland aids in the facilitation of sperm transfer. This gland is attached to the albumen gland, an exocrine gland found in snails, which leads to the oviduct. The oviduct is a larger organ that aids in the passage of an egg from the ovotestis. The oviduct is positioned in the posterior of the vagina. The vas deferens of the snail is a cord that is attached to the oviduct and moves into the penis sac. Adjacent to this, is the dart sac, which contains two coronal glands. The vesicula seminalis is a small organ joined to the vagina at about the anterior third by a very long duct. The cloaca is a short thick-walled tube. The dart sac retractor muscle connects the dart sac with the duct of the seminal vesicle at the base of the penis.