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Saunders' Case Moth
Metura elongatus
-37.9244, 145.576
Field Notes
Description:
A moth case about 125mm long and about 12 to15mm wide. The case was made up of multiple short pieces of cropped sticks, some probably leaf stalks, embedded in silk. The case was seen hanging high up on an outer wall of a building.
Notes:
This is the largest case moth ( family: Psychidae) I've seen. The caterpillar lives inside this silk bag and protrudes out through the top end to feed at night. Waste matter is extruded out through the rear end (free hanging end). New plant material, in this case cropped sticks, are added to the case at one end, as the caterpillar grows.
The caterpillar pupates within the case. If the moth is male it exits the case via the rear end in search of a female. If it's female, the moth remains within the case and mating occurs through the opening at the rear end.
The case looked well stuck to the wall suggesting that this is probably the final resting place for it. Will keep an eye on this for as long as possible.....it was on a school building !
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