Bionomics of Bagworms (Lepidoptera: Psychidae)

Abstract

The bagworm family (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) includes approximately 1000 species, all of which complete larval development within a selfenclosing bag. The family is remarkable in that female aptery occurs in over half of the known species and within 9 of the 10 currently recognized subfamilies. In the more derived subfamilies, several life-history traits are associated with eruptive population dynamics, e.g., neoteny of females, high fecundity, dispersal on silken threads, and high level of polyphagy. Other salient features shared by many species include a short embryonic period, developmental synchrony, sexual segregation of pupation sites, short longevity of adults, male-biased sex ratio, sexual dimorphism, protogyny, parthenogenesis, and oviposition in the pupal case. The unusual mating behavior of bagworms, characterized by an earlier emergence of females than males and a high proportion of females that do not mate as adults, challenges conventional wisdom regarding the evolution of mating systems. 209

Relationships between Psychidae communities (Lepidoptera: Tineoidea) and the ecological characteristics of old-growth forests in a beech dominated landscape

“…Some species are parthenogenetic. Larvae pupate inside their bag and females of many species also lay eggs inside the bags (Rhainds et al, 2009). This family is often neglected by lepidopterists because species are diffi cult to identify and rarely collected as adults.…”

“…In fact, several Psychidae pupate on vertical surfaces, usually trees, plants, rocks but also guard rails, in order to maximize mating success (Rhainds et al, 1995) and dispersal of the young larvae that emerge from the bags (Ghent, 1999). The pupation sites of the different sexes of some species of bagworm differ (Rhainds et al, 2009) and collecting bags can result in underestimates of the numbers of species and of the different sexes, usually the males, which pupate on horizontal surfaces. The data, however, are suitable for ecological analyses because they are collected in a standardized way.…”

Investigating the Origin of Parthenogenesis and Ploidy Level inDahlica fennicella(Lepidoptera: Psychidae)

“…In Finland, the species of the subfamily Naryciinae occur in forest habitats where both sexual and parthenogenetic species coexist (Kumpulainen et al 2004, Elzinga et al 2011. Their common name makes reference to the fact that the larvae live and complete their development in a selfenclosing case made of forest debris (Rhainds et al 2009). …”

“…Bagworm moths (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) comprise a taxonomically diverse group with a worldwide distribution (Rhainds et al 2009). In Finland, the species of the subfamily Naryciinae occur in forest habitats where both sexual and parthenogenetic species coexist (Kumpulainen et al 2004, Elzinga et al 2011.…”

Evaluation of criteria for species delimitation of bagworm moths (Lepidoptera: Psychidae)

“…Their common name (bagworm moths) refers to the fact that their larvae construct cases of forest debris in which they live and complete their development (Rhainds et al, 2009). The tribe Dahliciini includes the genera Dahlica and Siederia (Bengtsson et al, 2008).…”