Annals of the Entomological Society of America (2002) 95, 481-486

David B. Rivers, Andrea L. Antonelli and Jay A. Yoder (2002)
Bags of the bagworm Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) protect diapausing eggs from water loss and chilling injury
Annals of the Entomological Society of America 95 (4), 481-486
Abstract: The bagworm Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Haworth) is univoltine and overwinters as diapausing eggs within the silken bag from the female moth. We have sought to determine whether selection of this overwintering site protects eggs against desiccation and low temperature injury. Bag-enclosed eggs retained water nearly three times more effectively (net water loss rates were lower) than naked eggs. A similar trend was noted in the ability of eggs to withstand prolonged exposure to subzero temperatures: naked eggs were four times more susceptible to chilling injury compared with those tucked inside a bag. Plastic or tissue paper artificial bags did not mimic the protection against cold. The eggs contained low levels of glycerol and sorbitol, suggesting no major role for these cryoprotectants. Bagworm eggs are not freeze tolerant, and their high water content implies that they have neither been enhanced for water conservation nor cold hardiness. These observations indicate that use of the female bag as the overwintering site is crucial to high winter survival by T. ephemeraeformis.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis