Rudy Mancke helps a listener identify a strange-looking caterpillar on his plants.
Transcript (Edited for clarity):
RUDY MANCKE:
Hi, this is Rudy Mancke from USC for NatureNotes.
Chip lives in Greenville and noticed a lot of caterpillars that had bags around them on his evergreens. He wondered what in the world was going on. Common name for this makes perfect sense: bagworm moths. And they do like evergreens — feed on other things sometimes.
The larvae make these silken bags, and as the larva grows, the bag gets bigger and bigger. And it's kind of interesting because the female never usually leaves that bag. She doesn't have wings. She can't fly. The male leaves his bag, has wings, is a good flyer. She produces a pheromone. He flies to her, they mate, and often times she lays eggs in the bag that she had at the end of the season.
