Undetermined PSYCHIDAE AG
Left-handed Pyramid Casemoth
PSYCHIDAE,   TINEOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of Maria Rosenfelder, Sunshine Coast Hinterland, Queensland)

This Caterpillar initially attaches four sticks in a square around its case, all of the same length, and attaches them at right angles to the axis of the case. As the caterpillar grows when sufficiently longer, it attaches a new set similarly arranged to the old set, except that they are slightly longer, so that the the new part of the case is bigger, and twisted slightly about 7 degrees anticlockwise (viewed from the small end) to the previous set.


(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The caterpillar does this perhaps a dozen times as it grows, giving the pyramid a left-handed corkscrew appearance. The case can grow to a length of up to 3 cms.


(Photo: courtesy of Neil Hewett, Cooper Creek Wilderness, Queensland)

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(updated 22 April 2011, 2 November 2024)