''Eumeta variegata'', commonly known as the paulownia bagworm or cotton bag worm, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

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

. The species was first described by Snellen in 1879. It is found in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Description

Adults show strong sexual dimorphism. Adult females lack wings and live throughout their life in the larval case. Adult males have functional wings. This is due to that during final instar larvae, male show normal wing discs, whereas those of the female show rudimentary. The protective is about 5 cm in length. The silk is composed entirely of Glycine-Alanine repeats and poly-Alanine stretches. In the male, wing discs proliferate rapidly in the eighth instar and continue proliferating. A conspicuous peripodial epithelium forms and the hemopoietic organs break down and disappear completely by the prepupal stage. Whereas in female, the wing discs remain as in the seventh instar, without proliferation of cells inside. Therefore, there is no peripodial epithelium formation and the hemopoietic organs are still attached to the wing discs. Finally the entire wing discs transform into a plain, thick epidermis in the prepupal period.

Molecular basis

In 2018, the complete

mitochondrial genome Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

of the moth was sequenced using a nanopore sequencer as a single long read. It is the second report of a complete mitochondrial genome of psychid species.

Ecology

It is a known pest of ''

Citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...

'' and

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 southwestern China and northe ...

cultivation, though it is considered to be

polyphagous Feeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. Terminology often uses either the suffixes -vore, -vory, or -vorous from Latin ''vorare'', meaning "to devour", or -phage, -phagy, or -phagous from Greek φαγε ...

. It also a known pest of

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

cashew The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus ''Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf cult ...

casuarina ''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fami ...

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

, ''

Shorea robusta ''Shorea robusta'', the sal tree, sāla, shala, sakhua, or sarai, is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The tree is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet and across the Himalayan regions . Evolution Fossil evidence from lig ...

''. The natural parasites of the species include: '' Apanteles claniae'', '' Aulosaphes fujianensis'', ''

Chouioia cunea ''Chouioia'' is a genus of endoparasitic wasp of the family Eulophidae. '' Chouioia cunea'' is considered an important parasite of the fall webworm The fall webworm (''Hyphantria cunea'') is a moth in the family Erebidae known principally for ...

'', ''

Exorista japonica ''Exorista '' is a genus of flies in the family Tachinidae. Subgenera & species *Subgenus ''Adenia'' Robineau-Desvoidy, 1863 **'' E. cuneata'' Herting, 1971 **'' E. mimula'' ( Meigen, 1824) **'' E. pseudorustica'' Chao, 1964 **'' E. rustica'' ...

'', '' Nealsomyia rufella'', '' Sarcophaga caudagalli'', and '' Sclerodermus guani''. Pathogens are ''

Bacillus thuringiensis ''Bacillus thuringiensis'' (or Bt) is a gram-positive, soil-dwelling bacterium, the most commonly used biological pesticide worldwide. ''B. thuringiensis'' also occurs naturally in the gut of caterpillars of various types of moths and butterflie ...

'' and '' Nucleopolyhedrosis virus''.

Host plants

* '' Acacia mangium'' * '' Albizia'' * ''

Baccaurea ramiflora ''Baccaurea ramiflora'',Lour. (1790) In: ''Fl. Cochinch.'': 661 the Burmese grape, is a slow-growing evergreen tree in the family Phyllanthaceae, growing to 25 m, with a spreading crown and thin bark. It is native to Asia, from Nepal in the west, ...

'' * ''

Camellia sinensis ''Camellia sinensis'' is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Theaceae. Its leaves and leaf buds are used to produce the popular beverage, tea. Common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree (not to ...

'' * ''

Casuarina equisetifolia ''Casuarina equisetifolia'', common names ''Coastal She-oak'' or ''Horsetail She-oak'' (sometimes referred to as the Australian pine tree or whistling pine tree outside Australia), is a she-oak species of the genus ''Casuarina''. The native ...

'' * ''

Casuarina junghuhniana ''Casuarina junghuhniana'', the mountain ru or red-tipped ru, is a she-oak species of the genus ''Casuarina'' that originated in Java and Lesser Sunda Islands. The species has been introduced to Pakistan and Bangladesh. Description ''Casuarin ...

'' * '' Ceiba pentandra'' * ''

Cinnamomum camphora ''Camphora officinarum'' is a species of evergreen tree that is commonly known under the names camphor tree, camphorwood or camphor laurel. Description ''Camphora officinarum'' is native to China south of the Yangtze River, Taiwan, southern ...

'' * ''

Derris ''Derris'' is genus of leguminous plants found in Southeast Asia and the southwest Pacific islands, including New Guinea. The roots of '' D. elliptica'' contain rotenone, a strong insecticide and fish poison. Despite the secondary compounds foun ...

'' * ''

Hevea brasiliensis ''Hevea brasiliensis'', the Pará rubber tree, ''sharinga'' tree, seringueira, or most commonly, rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large fami ...

'' * '' Hibiscus'' * ''

Lagerstroemia ''Lagerstroemia'' (), commonly known as crape myrtle (also spelled crepe myrtle or crêpe myrtle), is a genus of around 50 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs native to the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, northern Australia ...

'' * '' Mangifera indica'' * '' Manihot esculenta'' * ''

Musa paradisiaca Musa may refer to: Places *Mūša, a river in Lithuania and Latvia * Musa, Azerbaijan, a village in Yardymli Rayon * Musa, Iran, a village in Ilam Province * Musa, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran *Musa, Kerman, Iran * Musa, Bukan, West Azerbaijan ...

'' * ''

Myristica fragrans ''Myristica fragrans'' is an evergreen tree indigenous to the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It is important as the main source of the spices nutmeg and mace. It is widely grown across the tropics including Guangdong and Yunnan in China, Taiwan, I ...

'' * ''

Palaquium ''Palaquium'' is a genus of about 120 species of trees in the family Sapotaceae. Their range is from India across Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and Australasia, to the western Pacific Islands. Description Within their range, ''Palaquium'' s ...

'' * ''

Paraserianthes falcataria ''Falcataria falcata'' (syns. ''Albizia falcata'', ''Falcataria moluccana'' and ''Paraserianthes falcataria''), commonly known as the Moluccan albizia, is a species of fast-growing tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to the Maluku Islands, ...

'' * ''

Peltophorum ''Peltophorum'' is a genus of 5–15 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae. The genus is native to certain tropical regions across the world. The species are medium-sized to large trees growing up to 15� ...

'' * '' Pinus markusii'' * '' Pinus roxburghii'' * '' Piper'' * '' Podocarpus macrophyllus'' * ''

Psidium guajava ''Psidium guajava'', the common guava, yellow guava, lemon guava, or apple guava is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to the Caribbean, Central America and South America. It is easily pollinated by insects; when cultivated, it is pollina ...

'' * '' Ricinus'' * ''

'' * ''

Theobroma cacao ''Theobroma cacao'', also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. The largest pro ...

'' * '' Uncaria gambir'' * ''

Vitis ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, b ...

References

External links

Bionomics of BagwormsFemale-specific wing degeneration is triggered by ecdysteroid in cultures of wing discs from the bagworm moth, ''Eumeta variegata''The complete mitochondrial genome of ''Eumeta variegata''In vitro effects of juvenile hormone analog on wing disc morphogenesis under ecdysteroid treatment in the female-wingless bagworm moth ''Eumeta variegata''
Moths of Asia Moths described in 1879 Psychidae {{Tineoidea-stub