BAGWORM MOTHS OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE 13 



were made by bii'ds (probably woodpeckers) in extracting the contents. 

 Wolcott (1951) mentions an interesting example of predation by the 

 lizards Anolis pulchellus and Anolis cristatellus in Puerto Rico. 

 These animals reportedly swallow the larva inside its bag although 

 the latter, presumably, is indigestible. The present writer has noticed 

 that the egg-filled cases of Oiketicus platensis and Thyridopteryx 

 ephemeraeformis are frequented at times by small spiders of the family 

 Salticidae. As the young larvae emerged, several were eaten by the 

 predators. Predaceous mites also have been reported among the egg 

 masses: these arachnids probably attack the eggs primarily. Stephens 

 fm-ther reports that ants ("probably Solenoj^sis") will occasionally 

 feed on the larvae of 0. kirbyi. 



The Psychidae are parasitized by various other groups. The 

 most common is the Ichneumonidae, which contain several species of 

 larval parasites. Other families of Hymenoptera that are known to 

 attack bagworms are the Bethylidae, Braconidae, and Chalcidae. 

 Dipterous parasites are known from the families Sarcophagidae and 

 Tachinidae. In addition to these insects, Stephens has found that a 

 fungus, Beauvaris bassiana Balsamo, and a protozoan, Nosema 

 species, are parasitic on the larvae of 0. kirbyi. 



In the collections of the United States National Museum there are 

 a few larval cases of Oiketicus toumeyi that have been used for nest 

 sites by a vespid wasp, identified by Dr. Karl Krombein as 

 Pachodynerus acuticarinatus (Cameron). Mud nests consisting of 

 approximately four to eight cells were constructed within the case, 

 where the larvae of this intruder were reared. In one larval case was 

 found the female pupal shell of a psychid; in another, the dried re- 

 mains of a nearly matured larva. Since the bag of the latter was 

 blocked at both ends by the nests of the wasp, it is possible that the 

 death of the bagworm was caused indirectly by the presence of the 

 visitor. The relationship of these two insects is evidently not that 

 of host-parasite. It is also possible that the wasp makes use of the 

 case after the original inhabitant has either died or pupated. 

 Pachodynerus acuticarinatus previously has been reported (Rau, 

 1940) utilizing for nesting sites the old, vacated cells of another 

 hymenopteran, Sceliphron. 



Characters 



The morphological characters that are employed in this family to 

 delimit genera and species present many problems of character evalu- 

 ation in defining taxonomic categories. Clench (1959), in working 

 with a small group of South African psychids, has accurately em- 

 phasized this predicament. Several species or groups of species, al- 

 though resembling each other very closely in most features and thus 



