Bagworm Moth Case

Description:

"The caterpillar larvae of the Psychidae construct cases out of silk and environmental materials such as sand, soil, lichen, or plant materials. These cases are attached to rocks, trees or fences while resting or during their pupa stage, but are otherwise mobile. The larvae of some species eat lichen, while others prefer green leaves. Bagworm cases range in size from less than 1 cm to 15 cm among some tropical species. Each species makes a case particular to its species, making the case more useful to identify the species than the creature itself. Cases among the more primitive species are flat. More specialized species exhibit a greater variety of case size, shape, and composition, usually narrowing on both ends. The attachment substance used to affix the bag to host plant, or structure, can be very strong, and in some case require a great deal of force given the relative size and weight of the actual "bag" structure itself." ~wiki

Habitat:

spotted on a White Broom bush (Retama raetam) in a sandy desert wadi

Notes:

When I first saw these structures a few years ago, I had no idea what they were. Thanks to PN, I knew exactly what I was looking at this time! http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/878...