Species Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis - Evergreen Bagworm Moth - Hodges#0457

0457

Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Haworth, 1803)

* phylogenetic sequence #013675

Five Thyridopteryx species are found in America north of Mexico

Wingspan 17-36 mm (1)

Bags may grow to 50 mm (2)

Full-grown larvae are 18-25mm(3)

Females are wingless, have no functional legs, eyes, or antennae -- almost maggot-like in appearance. The body is soft, yellowish-white and practically naked except for a circle of woolly hairs at the posterior end of the abdomen.(3)

Massachusetts south to Florida and west to Nebraska, Colorado, and New Mexico. (1)

Larval cases (bags) are found attached to their foodplants.

Flies August to October. (1)

Various trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants. A pest of red cedar. (1)

Larvae drag around their cases while feeding. When ready to pupate they attach the cases with silk to a branch. Males squeeze their way out, often losing much of their wing scales in the process. They seek wingless, legless females who never leave their bags. The males insert their abdomen to mate, and the females lay their eggs inside their own cases. Eggs overwinter and after hatching they disperse and begin forming their own bags.

One generation per year.(3)

Predators include the common Ichneumon wasp Itoplectis conquisitor

Moth Photographers Group

Various photos at Forestry Images.

Photo of adult male from the Clemson Arthropod collection.

Factsheet from PennState Cooperative Extension

Info from Texas Cooperative Extension