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SEX-SPECIFIC HABITAT UTILIZATION BY BAGWORMS (LEPIDOPTERA: PSYCHIDAE)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 May 2012
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Bagworms (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) have an unusual life history (Borror et al. 1989). Following eclosion, apterous females stay within their pupal case and the protective bag they constructed as larvae. Females attract winged males by expelling pheromone-impregnated scales outside of their pupal case into the lower extremity of the bag. Sexual segregation of pupation sites has been found in three bagworms, Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Haworth) (Gross andFritz 1982), Oiketicus kirbyi (Guilding) (Rhainds et al. 1995a, 1995b), and Metisa plarza (Mlker) (Rhainds, unpublished). In all three bagworms, proportionately more female than male larvae pupate in the upper strata of trees. Pupation of females in upper sites is adaptive because it may enhance any to all of the following: pheromone dissemination (Gross and Fritz 1982), mate attraction (Rhainds et al. 1995a, 1995b), progeny development (Rhainds, unpublished), and dispersal of neonatal larvae (Cox and Potter 1988). We report habitat segregation between male and female pupae of the bagworm Clania cramerii (Mstwood) (Thangavelu and Ravindranath 1985).
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- Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1997
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