An alternative to molluscicides? Toward a push-pull strategy against invasive snails using chemical and visual stimuli

Four invasive Mediterranean snails (Theba pisana (Müller), Cernuella virgata (da Costa), Cochlicella acuta (Müller) and Cochlicella barbara (Linnaeus)) cost $170 million yearly to the grain industry in Australia. Their impact is mainly due to their estivation behavior: snails climb on cereal stalks to rest during summer, which coincides with harvest, causing grain contamination issues. Diverse management methods have been developed to regulate snail populations, with limited success. Our study aims at investigating the potential for a push pull strategy to divert invasive snails from cultivated fields. First, artificial estivation supports of different colors were tested under laboratory and field conditions and showed that red supports were the most attractive for these snails. Second, different substances were tested as potential snail deterrents (garlic, coffee, coffee grounds, copper). Garlic extracts were the most powerful snail deterrent and were shown to effectively protect an es..., , , # An alternative to molluscicides? Toward a push-pull strategy against invasive snails using chemical and visual stimuli

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.c2fqz61hf](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.c2fqz61hf)

Data from all experiments performed are included as CSV files.

## Description of the data and file structure

Data from all experiments described in the manuscript are included as CSV files. Files can be imported in R. Abbreviations are described in each file.

*Color_strip_choice_Cernuella_virgata.csv*

*Color_strip_choice_Cochlicella_acuta.csv*

*Color_strip_choice_Cochlicella_barbara.csv*

*Color_strip_choice_Theba_pisana.csv*

These files contain the data from the color strip choice tests (black vs. another color) for each snail species separately - *Theba pisana*, *Cernuella virgata*, *Cochlicella acuta* and *Cochlicella barbara* 

*Color_post_choice_pisana__virgata__acuta___barbara.csv*

This file contains the data from the color post choice tests (black vs. another color) ...,