![]() | Left-handed Pyramid Casemoth PSYCHIDAE, TINEOIDEA | (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.
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.
![]() caterpillar | ![]() butterflies | ![]() Lepidoptera | ![]() moths | ![]() caterpillar |
(updated 22 April 2011, 2 November 2024)