Wonderfully Wild Wednesday: Love darts

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham, Communications

With Valentine’s Day coming up, it’s a good time to meet the hermaphroditic Partula snail.

Prior to copulating, Partula shoot “love darts”—tiny bits of calcium-based material—like daggers into their partner. No one knows exactly why. Some think that this is the origin of Cupid with his arrows. 

Now there's a fun fact you can use to romance your Valentine.

Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo.