Outdoors, manual picking of cases when the populations are relatively low should be enough to keep this species under control. Plaster bagworms may also be found near baseboards, under chairs and on the edges of rugs. These cases are easily seen on light-colored walls and can be found mainly in closets. Regular cleaning practices can reduce the incidence of the plaster bagworm. The plaster bagworm is a small larva that creates a case from silk and debris, like soil, lint and paint fragments to help camouflage the case. Certain species such as the Evergreen bagworm feed on the upper parts of plants leaving holes in the foliage. In large populations they can make life very difficult for orange farmers and producers. Clothes closets should be checked regularly to ascertain integrity of woollen items therein. The larvae mainly feed on spider webs however, they will also feed on fabrics made of certain natural fibers like wool. They fly fairly well, but usually rest on walls, floor edges, or on the webs of house spiders. It has a dark brown head, while the rest of the body is white.Īdult moths do not appear to feed. The case has a slit-like opening at each end, and the tiny caterpillar is able to move around and feed from either end.Ī fully developed bagworm caterpillar is about 7 mm long. The case is constructed of silken fiber and sand particles, lint, paint fragments, and other debris. The larvae of bagworms live in the characteristic gray, seed-shaped case, which measures about 13 mm long. The entire cycle from egg to adult averages 62-86 days. Eggs are soft, pale blue, and about 0.4 mm in diameter. 200 eggs may be laid by a single female over a period of a week, after which she dies. After mating, females lay their eggs on crevices and the junction of walls and floors, cementing them on debris. The plaster bagworm has 4 life stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult. They are quite common in garages, underneath buildings, on wool rugs and wool carpets, hanging on curtains, hanging from subflooring, joists, sills and foundations on the exterior of buildings in shaded places, under farm sheds, under furniture, on stored farm machinery and on tree trunks. Because of this, they are not commonly found inside air-conditioned buildings. The plaster bagworm is a species of moth.
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