''Eumeta crameri'' is a

bagworm moth The Psychidae (bagworm moths, also simply bagworms or bagmoths) are a Family (biology), family of the Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). The bagworm family is fairly small, with about 1,350 species described. Bagworm species are found globa ...

of the family Psychidae. It was described by John O. Westwood in 1854 and has worldwide distribution in tropical and subtropical habitats, including

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

Description

In the male, the head, thorax and abdomen are clothed with light and dark brown hair. Forewings are reddish brown with the veins streaked with black. The interspaces with pale streaks, more or less fuscous suffusion on outer area. Hindwings are smoky brown. Wings rather short and broad.

Ecology

The characteristic of the species is that it spins its cocoon all its

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

l life, decorating it with small twigs, bark and thorns from the

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s on which it feeds. (For this reason, it is sometimes known as the large

faggot ''Faggot'', often shortened to ''fag'', is a Pejorative, slur in the English language that was used to refer to gay men but its meaning has expanded to other members of the queer community. In American youth culture around the turn of the 21s ...

worm). After hatching, the larva climbs to the top of its host tree and begins feeding on the tender shoots. The ''Eumeta crameri'' larva renovates its case three times during the two- to three-month larval stage, doing it progressively faster each time. Case renovation consists of replacing the twigs and thorns that make up the case with longer materials, with one piece noticeably longer than the others. The larva approaches 3 cm in length when entering the pupa stage. Adult male moths are reddish brown with wings. Females lay about 500 eggs that incubate for 10 to 15 days. As the larvae grow, they prefer older leaves and bark of a variety of hosts:

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

(wattle),

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

mimosa ''Mimosa'' is a genus of about 600 species of herbs and shrubs, in the mimosoid clade of the legume family Fabaceae. Species are native to the Americas, from North Dakota to northern Argentina, and to eastern Africa (Tanzania, Mozambique, and ...

Australian pine ''Casuarina'', also known as she-oak, Australian pine and native pine, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Casuarinaceae, and is native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and e ...

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

gmelina ''Gmelina'' is a genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae. It consists of about 35 species, native to Australia, Southeast Asia, India, New Guinea and New Caledonia. Some species such as ''G. arborea'' have been planted and/or become naturalised ...

lychee Lychee ( , ; ''Litchi chinensis''; ) is a monotypic taxon and the sole member in the genus ''Litchi'' in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae. There are three distinct subspecies of lychee. The most common is the Indochinese lychee found in So ...

thuja ''Thuja'' ( ) is a genus of coniferous tree or shrub in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are five species in the genus, two native to North America and three native to eastern Asia. The genus is monophyletic and sister to ''Thujopsis''. M ...

, Rangoon creeper,

strawberry guava ''Psidium cattleyanum'' (World Plants: ''Psidium cattleianum''), commonly known as Cattley guava, strawberry guava or cherry guava, is a small tree ( tall) in the Myrtaceae (myrtle) family. The species is named in honour of English horticulturis ...

and many other species. Some ghost species of commercial significance, such as acacia and tea, are particularly susceptible to ''Eumeta crameri''. As a result, this species is frequently dealt with as a pest. Some plantations are treated with aerial insecticides to protect the host plants. Plantation environments are more susceptible to the larvae than natural habitats.

References

Sources

Upsasi Tea Research Foundation
Retrieved on 23 October 2005. * * * {{Taxonbar , from=Q5409569 Psychidae Moths described in 1854