Lesser Bulin Snail

I was surprised to see this snail on the outside of the polytunnel last month. I don’t recall seeing a conical-shaped snail away from a pond before. However, it seems that the Merdigera obscura isn't that rare - distributed across North-West Africa to Southern Finland!

You can see that it's rather small and apparently they are often covered in dirt or other detritis as camouflage - the genus name, Buliminus, means excrement-bearer(!). Nice! Which may explain why I've not spotted one before, but I'll be keeping a lookout for them now I know the name.

The aperture rim is a key identification feature for molluscs and if you look on the Conchological Society website you'll see that some have really obvious 'teeth' or the opening can be shaped differently. It's always interesting when you start delving closer into investigating the tiny creatures that are around us.

The lesser bulin snail is normally a deciduous forest dweller and lives on leaf litter and moss. It's not uncommon for younger ones to be found on vertical South-facing surfaces, so perhaps this is a young one. It probably lives in the hedgerow usually, so I hope it found its way back. 

Suffice to say, it's not interested in eating our veggies so a welcome tiny visitor to the plot.
Thanks to the Facebook group Land & Freshwater Mollusca, Britain & Europe for the id.