Paulownia Bagworm Moth

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.

It is a known pest of Citrus and tea cultivation, though it is considered to be polyphagous. It also a known pest of mango, cashew, casuarina, cinnamon, Shorea robusta. The natural parasites of the species include: Apanteles claniae, Aulosaphes fujianensis, Chouioia cunea, Exorista japonica, Nealsomyia rufella, Sarcophaga caudagalli, and Sclerodermus guani. Pathogens are Bacillus thuringiensis and Nucleopolyhedrosis virus.