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Oiketicus kirbyi
The larvae of the Psychidae family are hypognathous, measure between 8 and 50 mm, and build protective bags made from silk and fragments of plant tissue. They are cylindrical, with well-developed thoracic legs and four pairs of pseudo-legs in the abdomen and a pair at the anal extreme. Pupation occurs within the bag; the final larval stage attaches the bag to the stratum and pupates up side down. In some more evolved genera, females do not abandon the bag, except after laying the eggs, when they drop to die on the ground. Depending on species, 200- 13 000 eggs remain within the bag. The larval stage is fairly long, but adult life is ephemeral. Sexual dimorphism is marked: adult females are neotenic with larval appearance and remain inside the bag. Males are free living moths (Stehr 1987).
There are about 600 species in the family; 500 are Old World species and 26 are found in Canada and the US. The genus Oiketicus is represented by three species in tropical America. O. kirbyi is found in lowlands from Brazil to Mexico and in the Caribbean islands.
I found this cocoon in a lemon tree, it was eating while it was in the cacoon and someone told me it was there since 3 or 4 months ago.
Psychidae/Bagworms, most probably Oiketicus kirbyi. It is quite a pest for several crops in the neotropics.
Interesting facts: The female has no antennae and no wings, does not leave the bag (!), is neotenic (also known from the Axolotl), meaning the fertilization occurs in the larval-like (but adult) stage of the female (!) by the male which opens the female's bag for mating. The female at the end is very large due to the mass of eggs (some thousands!). At the end the female drops to the ground and dies, the bag and the eggs remains attached on a leaf or little branch. Just some short info about an exciting, strange and complex behaviour!
Spotted on Jul 16, 2012
Submitted on Jul 24, 2012
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