Effect of the motivational state on location of novel and familiar food in an invasive land snail species (Theba pisana).

•Decision-making is a characteristic of intelligence not previously observed in snails.•We demonstrate that when hungry enough snails detect and eat novel substances but reject familiar ones if sated.•This species can therefore be used as a model for studying the cognitive capacities of higher species.•The fact that snails decide whether to eat a given food or not implies that they may be misled.•This could be helpful for a more efficient deployment of baits that are currently used to protect crops.