I grew up in central Illinois and know exactly what you are talking about. These guys don’t have pine needles on their sacks, but are flat with dirt and a bit of shiny vermiculite on their silk sacks. I usually see them outside on shaded walls of buildings.
Admittedly, this is a new one lol.... @IntermittentSygnal, have you managed to narrow down a potential genus for further research? My intuition says these can likely be controlled using UV traps like any other pest with a flying life stage, but I'm at a loss as far as eradication methods or if there is any risk to the specimen.I can't help with that sorry I hadn't even heard of them before this thread. Any sort of weird viv stuff I usually ask @NMTs or @l4nsky if they could be so kind n if they have any info or know someone who would could they please let me know. Hopefully one of them may be able to help because I have no idea if they could hurt your t.
They appear to have 9 synonyms in 3 different genuses, but Phereoeca uterella is what I’m seeing. Psychidae is not related, so not technically an “bagworm”. According to a well referenced Wikipedia, their main food source is….spiderwebs. Dander, human hair and wool being other sources. I do see those little moths from time to time and I just read 200 eggs at a time. :-\ I’ll get that UV trap set up asap. Thank you!
wow they eat webs?
eat other stuff like plants. I have a lot of little moths investing my dubia colony. Grain moths.
That’s exactly what I thought those little moths I had seen were, grain moths, but I guess not.wow they eat webs?
The good news is they don’t attack spiders as caterpillars
