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Bagworm Moth
Unidentified Psychidae
15.4565, 119.92
Field Notes
Description:
I just don't know enough about Bagworm Moths to enable me to make any useful comments here. I have made some effort to find the kind of information that would help me to identify at least some of those that I have spotted, but I have had no success so far. The information provided by Philippine Lepidoptera is mainly about the life cycle of these moths and even their specimens are either unidentified or have incomplete identifications. So, what chance do we, lesser mortals have. Wikipedia also give some life cycle information, but when it comes to descriptive information, they say that species are mostly identified by the type of bag they construct. That looks promising, until you read on and find that Wiki cannot tell us how to identify the bags. It all seems to indicate that this part of the science of Lepidoptera has been, perhaps slightly neglected. As far as this this specimen is concerned, I only took one picture. The second image above is the original photo and I think the bagworm was responsible for all the holes in the leaf. I have noticed others eating that way. The cropped/enlarged image is the same photo, but shows greater detail. If you look on the right side of the bag, near the top, you will notice a small hole. I found myself wondering if this could be a male's exit hole (if you read Wiki's article, it explains that only the males leave their bag to go and find a mate) or could it be an entrance hole made by a predator. You see what a mess we can get into when there is no solid information available. Finally, please look on the leaf, just a little to the left of the top of the bag. There is something there. My conjecture is that it looks like the sticky silk pad which these moths use to affix their bags to the plant. If that is a sticky fixing pad, then where is the bag containing the moth. I can only guess that it has fallen to the ground. I still have a number of Bagworm photos which I will post on Project Noah. Even if I cannot contribute any truly useful information, I always think that the moth missions and the animal architecture mission might find my spotting more useful to them than it is to me. To make it easier, I will refrain from speculation and use fewer words. In that way, the pictures will "speak for themselves".
Habitat:
Spotted on foliage in the backyard of the rice mill.
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