Wattle bagworm
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| Kotochalia junodi (Heylaerts) |
The Wattle bagworm (Kotochalia junodi) is a caterpillar that lives out its life in a mobile casing covered with thorns and twigs. The insect begins spinning its cocoon during the larval stage. As the caterpillar grows, it extends the front end of the case by adding more material. Due to their composition of thorns and twigs from the thorn trees they infest, the cocoon provides a natural camouflage that blends them into the background.
Southern Africa is the home region for the wattle bagworm, where they are common and often infest wattle plantations, which cover more than half a million acres (2,000 km²) in South Africa, primarily in Natal. The caterpillars are controlled by the insecticide Btk or, for small infestations or localized impact, simply picked from trees by hand.
The females never become moths. The males emerge from their cocoons in June only long enough to fly about in search of a mate, dying soon after fertilizing a female. The females lie motionless while the males extend their abdomens into the female's case to mate. Up to 1500 eggs are produced, but only a few survive the perils of their youth.
The wattle bagworm spreads in a unique way. After hatching as a caterpillar, the insect spins a silk thread and hangs from the end for a few days. The wind or a passing bird sometimes transports the caterpillar to another tree, spreading the species quite effectively.
