Psychidae (family) IMMATURE

Unidentified case moth or bagworm at Carwoola, NSW

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Identification history

Nolinae immature moth	14 Oct 2024	donhe
Uraba lugens	13 Oct 2024	WendyEM
Psychidae (family) IMMATURE	13 Oct 2024	donhe
Psychidae (family) IMMATURE	12 Oct 2024	DianneClarke
Lepidoptera unclassified IMMATURE moth	12 Oct 2024	Hejor1

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User's notes

Cocoon, very fragile, all 3 had hatched but I did my best to remove them for further inspection

5 comments

WendyEM wrote:

13 Oct 2024

Uraba lugens - they construct their case in which to pupate on a surface, often away from feed tree, using material from the surface - in this case wood fibres, to disguise it. Usually have a head capsule from the larvae on the case too

donhe wrote:

14 Oct 2024

I think U. lugens smooths the ends of the case onto the substrate, unlike this.
@Hejor1 : can you carefully cut it open and photograph the inside?

WendyEM wrote:

14 Oct 2024

in my experience, Psychidae (bag moths) live in a bag, which can be covered in other reinforcing/camouflage material (veg, mineral, animal?). The bag is attached at one end, even when they are pupating. This is a small cocoon attached all around. In the main shot, although sadly out of focus, they look like a couple of head capsules as part of the construction, which is a U lugens trait.

donhe wrote:

14 Oct 2024

Ok. The camouflaged cocoon is a trait of several of the Nolinae, and many moths leave the final larval skin adjacent to thr cocoon.

Hejor1 wrote:

14 Oct 2024

@WendyEM and @donhe I have the cocoons so I'll take photos on the inside when I get some natural light

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