Bag Worm

John Grehan jrg13 at psu.edu
Sun Feb 18 11:14:14 EST 2001


. The female bagworm is 
>wingless. How did these bagworms get unto this lone tree in the vast
treeless 
>grass land? I do not remember seeing another tree anywhere near this one. 
>Unless brought by man, that female walked a long way!
>
>Anyone have an explanation?

>Leroy C. Koehn

Someone else will probably know for sure, but one mechanism I have seen
that might apply to New Zealand bagworms is aerial drifitng by first instar
larvae. I watched newly hatched larvae drop from silk threads and be caught
by the wind. Although I did not actually observe them being carried away it
occurs to me that this 
is possible. The larvae had a most unusual walking posture, with their
thoracic legs
in contact with the surface while the rest of the abdomen was held up in a
vertical position.

John Grehan

 
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