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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Tubeworm, Bagworm, and Clothes Moths (Tineoidea) » Bagworm Moths (Psychidae) » Psychinae » Psyche » Common Bagworm Moth - Hodges#0437 (Psyche casta)

Species Psyche casta - Common Bagworm Moth - Hodges#0437

larval case of Bagworm Moth - Psyche casta Unidentified - Psyche casta Bagworm? - Psyche casta Who makes this and does something live inside? - Psyche casta Which bagworm? - Psyche casta Moth? - Psyche casta Psyche casta - male Insecta - Psyche casta
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Tineoidea (Tubeworm, Bagworm, and Clothes Moths)
Family Psychidae (Bagworm Moths)
Subfamily Psychinae
Genus Psyche
Species casta (Common Bagworm Moth - Hodges#0437)
Hodges Number
0437
Identification


Larval case "approximately 9-13 mm long. Silk of whitish grey, heavily covered by small pieces of plant fragments, usually by segments of grass stems, arranged longitudinally, often surpassing length of case, projecting in irregular fashion posteriorly." (Davis 1964)

See discussion here for comparison to the most similar native species, Astala confederata.
Range
Introduced from Europe. First discovered in Boston in 1931. By 1964 the range extended from southeastern Canada to eastern Pennsylvania. BugGuide data indicates it has expanded west to Illinois and Minnesota, with one apparent example in Washington state.
Food
Chiefly "grasses, mosses, lichens, and other low plants"; occasionally scale insects. (Davis 1964)
Life Cycle
1. Larval case. 2. Larva. 3. Pupa. 4. Adult female. 5. Adult male
See Also
Astala confederata
Print References
Davis 1964 "Bagworm moths of the western hemisphere." Bulletin of the United States National Museum 244, 233 pages
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group (MPG)
Barcode of Life (BOLD)
EoL
UK Moths
U. Michigan
Wikipedia
Contributed by Charley Eiseman on 10 February, 2009 - 10:53pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, urtica, Tony-2, Maury Heiman, Nick Block, Kyhl Austin, Steve Morris
Last updated 17 January, 2023 - 3:02pm

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