Skip to main content
Close

Bagworm Moth

Unidentified Psychidae

Photo by John B.
Published on Project Noah
Zoom
NominateNominate for Wildlife Photograph of the Month
reportFlag Spotting

15.4558, 119.921

Field Notes

Description:

I know very little about bagworm moths and I can't describe my pictures with any scientific authority. So what I will try to do is give my thoughts on each picture in turn, in the hope that my ideas, right or hopelessly wrong, might start a conversation from which I could learn something. So, #1. I realized immediately that I had spotted this Bagworm too late. I had missed whatever had taken place, but rather like a crime scene, there is always something to be learned from what is left behind. My first idea was that, the object hanging from the bag was the exuvia of a male which had eclosed and flown off to look for a mate. Tnen I remembered that males exit by making a hole near the top of the bag. So, that left me with the exuvia being that of a female. #2. A slightly different angle of view. If this was a female, what had caused it to emerge from the bag? It is documented that females do not exit the bag. They incubate their eggs inside their bodies and when the larvae hatch, the mother dies. #3. An enlargement to show greater detail. When the larvae are ready to leave the body of the dead mother, they emerge with a little thread of silk and float away in the breeze. It is called "ballooning". Did the emerging hatchlings cause the mother's body to to slip partially out and hang there after their departure? #4. A poor photo, sorry. I was using a macro lens - useless for wide angle. The Bagworm I have been talking about is on the right. During my picture taking, I noticed the small (early instar larva ?) bagworm on the left. So took this photo to show both. I have read that when the hatchling larvae "balloon" away, they can land on plants far away or, sometimes, very close to the bag of the mother. Is that what I see here? #5. A slightly better shot of the "baby bagworm" which is already making short work of a leaf.

Habitat:

The two Bagworm Moths shown here were spotted at about 3:30 this afternoon in our front garden on a Pomelo Tree (Citrus Maxima), locally known as Suha.

Notes:

I mentioned in Description above that I was too late and missed whatever event had taken place. That is, of course obvious, but what I have no way of knowing is how late? Did I miss this event by a few hours or by several days? I can't be sure and the evidence in my pictures is confusing. If the event took place two or three days ago, would there not be some ants eating the remains? The exuvia of the mother (if that's what it is) still looks fresh with no obvious signs of decay. But the "baby bagworm" looks older than a few hours. I really do not know how long a new small larva takes to put together the start of a bag. So, you can see how problematic it can be when there is just not enough information available. But there it is. That's what I saw :-)

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (0)

Be the first to comment

Sign in to comment

Accelerate our Mission to Photograph 
Every Species in the World!

Image
Butterflies icon

Wildlife Community

Wildlife Community

Join a worldwide community passionate about wildlife and nature!

Join Project Noah

Nature School

Nature School

Transform your green space into a curiosity-creating nature classroom!

Visit Nature School

Wildlife Game

Wildlife Game

Defend wildlife throughout the jungle in thrilling nature game!

Play Baboon