Cocoons on my Mesquite tree
October 10, 2009
South of Tucson, Arizona. I have these cocoons all over one of my mesquite trees.
Pam
Rio Rico, Arizona
Bagworms
Hi Pam,
This is a species of Bagworm. Bagworms are caterpillars of moths in the family Psychidae. They are unusual in that the female never leaves her bag. The bag is formed from silk and plant material by a growing larva that eventually pupates inside its bag. Adult males have wings but females are wingless. The female emits pheromones and attracts a mate to her bag. Her eggs are also laid in the bag. BugGuide contains some wonderful information.
Bagworms
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Posted 11 October 2009
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Cocoons/Nests
Ok. I’ve attached 3 photos below. Thanks so much, Alanna
Hi Alanna,
There were no photos attached to this email.
On 3/6/09
Hi
I sent some photos late last month and wanted to check back with you
about the identification of them. Our 7 year old girl thoroughly
enjoys all kinds of “BUGS” and can hardly wait for a response.
Thanks so much,
Alanna
Original Letter: Feb 24, 2009, at 9:11 PM
cocoons/nests
I was wanting to know what we should expect
to emerge from these and how to possibly anticipate when (Can we
place these in a jar for observation until then?)?
Alanna
Metter, Ga
Bagworm
Hi Alana,
Sorry for the delay in getting to your response. Additional delays resulted when you resent the request but we had no way of tracking your original letter with images. Thanks for resending the images. You have provided an image of a Bagworm, a species of moth that lives its entire caterpillar life inside a bag consructed of silken thread and bits of plant material from the host plant. Your other cocoon is some Giant Silk Moth. Both the Polyphemus Moth and Luna Moth wrap the cocoon in a leaf, and often the leaf falls to the ground, but occasionally the cocoon remains attached to the tree. It appears as though the tree is a some sort of fruit tree. Your third image which we are not posting, is of a Preying Mantis oothica or egg case.
Polyphemus or Luna Cocoon???
what is this caterpillar/cocoon
Hi. I have had these weird things all summer invading the pyracantha bush. (However you spell that) They mostly hang, but occasionally they will be crawling around dragging there home with them. Very curious, can you identify it? Thanks.
Stephanie
Hi Stephanie,
Once again we are not enforcing our threat to immediately trash all letters without locations, but only because in the interest of our readership, we feel you photos demonstrate an important documentation. These are Bagworms in the family Psychidae. Bagworms are caterpillars and pupae of moths. The caterpillars feed on a variety of plants, cedar, juniper and arborvitae being a favorite hosts, but pyracantha is also listed as a host. Bagworms construct bags from the leaves and twigs of their host plants, and we are amazed to see your photos of bags costructed of Pyracantha berries. We haven’t located another image online demonstrating the use of Pyracantha berries in the bag construction, but we just conducted a quick search.
So Sorry about not mentioning my location. I must have missed that threat somewhere on your page. I was just so excited to find someone who might know what it was. We are located in Midwest City, Oklahoma. This is just east of Oklahoma City. Thanks for the info.
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Posted 07 August 2008
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Interesting photo (and location) of a bag worm
Hi Bugman,
Thanks to your site, my brother & I are able to identify the insect in the attached photo! We found this bag worm outside of a Walgreens, attached to the "Handi-capped" parking sign. I am amazed that it made it all the way up to the top of the sign without being destroyed by someone! Plus, not sure how it got it in the middle of a parking lot? Best,
Stacey Gee
Poughkeepsie, NY
Hi Stacey,
While the adult male moths of bagworms have wings, the females are legless and wingless and remain in the bag their entire life, laying eggs there after attracting a mate with pheromones. If a female bagworm caterpillar chose that site for its cocoon location, it will surely guarantee her progeny will not survive as they will be too far from a food plant. If a male moth emerges, he will be able to fly away. This whole scenario gives one pause to think.
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Posted 03 September 2007
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a little caterpillar with a traveling cocoon
Hi,
I’m hoping you can identify this little fellow. He’s been hanging around (literally) ,and under my blue ceramic bird bath. At first I thought he was building a cocoon, but he keeps crawling all over the place with it . Let me know, please, if you can identify him. His cocoon seems to be about 3″ long. I live in Parma, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland). Thank you.
Mary Griffin
Hi Mary,
This caterpillar is a Bagworm. Bagworms are Moths in the family Psychidae. According to BugGuide: “Larvae (bagworms) construct spindle-shaped bags covered with pieces of twigs, leaves, etc., and remain in them, enlarging them as they grow, till they pupate (also in the bag). Adult females remain in the bag, emitting pheromones which attract adult males to mate with them.”
a little caterpillar with a traveling cocoon
Hi,
I’m hoping you can identify this little fellow. He’s been hanging around (literally) ,and under my blue ceramic bird bath. At first I thought he was building a cocoon, but he keeps crawling all over the place with it . Let me know, please, if you can identify him. His cocoon seems to be about 3" long. I live in Parma, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland). Thank you.
Mary Griffin
Hi Mary,
This caterpillar is a Bagworm. Bagworms are Moths in the family Psychidae. According to BugGuide: “Larvae (bagworms) construct spindle-shaped bags covered with pieces of twigs, leaves, etc., and remain in them, enlarging them as they grow, till they pupate (also in the bag). Adult females remain in the bag, emitting pheromones which attract adult males to mate with them.”
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Posted 28 August 2007
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bag worm
Hi bug man
We have identified this as a bag worm ( Thanks to your great site!) It has been hanging on our outside light fixture for about 6 months-it is starting to emerge from the bottom–what can you tell us about this and what will it do? Thanks,
Interested in bugs in Florida
Dear Interested,
If this is a female, and it does look to be a female, she will remain legless and wingless. She will emerge just far enough to mate with the winged male when he is attracted to her pheromones. She will then crawl back into her bag, lay eggs and die. Young caterpillars will hatch, disperse and form their own bags. If a male emerges, he will fly until he is attracted to a female.
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Posted 26 April 2007
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Hi,
My dad just sent me this photo, he lives is Johannburg, south africa. We have never seen anything like it. Could it be the bagworm?
Thank you
Tracey
Hi Tracey,
We agree that this is a Bagworm.
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Posted 12 April 2007
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Yet more nature via Christmas trees
Hi Bugman!
Your site is AWESOME! We use it for reference a lot. We sent a photo of one of two cocoons (?) found on our Christmas tree near the crown. We have both in a pyrex dish with plastic wrap punched full of holes on top. Any suggestions?
Bill
Hi Bill,
This is a Bagworm, a type of moth. Females are wingless and legless and do not leave the bag. The males will fly to her. We have an entire Bagworm page on our site.
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Posted 17 January 2007
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Hi
I am an American in Japan and thought you’d be interested in seeing what the tiger beetles here look like. They’re called hanmyou here.
I also included photos of a bagworm called a minomushi which means “straw raincoat”. They are a favorite of children here.
Melody McFarland
Yokosuka, Japan
Hi Melody,
Thank you for sending us your wonderful images as well as the language lesson. The jaws on that Hanmyou Tiger Beetle are quite formidable.
Bug Id
Hi,
I found this guy on a tree in my yard yesterday in northern New Jersey. Can you tell me anything about it? Thanks! Love your site!
Debie
Hi Debie,
This is the first time we’ve gotten a good image of the caterpillar that lives in a “bag” known as a Bagworm.
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Posted 26 August 2006
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Help identify a cocoon/chrysalis
I’m hoping it’s possible to identify chrysalis. I’ve searched high and low for a guide and can’t find one. I also searched your website for caterpillar’s and moths and found that you do identify some chrysalis in addition to the insects. But I didn’t find any that matched this form. Location: I came across this one in Surry County, North Carolina attached to a sycamore sapling in the floodplain of a creek. Surry County is in the northwest piedmont/foothills region on the border of Virginia.
Julie
Hi Julie,
This is a type of moth known as a Bagworm. We should probably include a link from our moth and caterpillar pages to our bagworm page.
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Posted 13 April 2006
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