Abstract
Bagworms were reared in a controlled environment room 9CER) to obtain details of their life history. Eggs were pale yellow and barrel-shaped, and their incubation period was 10.7 10.3 vs99.9 5.7 eggs/ ) yet lower than those recorded for several other species of Psychidae. Fertility was high (generally 90%). Sexual dimorphism in instar number was recorded (5-6 for males vs 6-7 for females) head capsule widths, bag lengths and morpholgy can be used to determine instars.Most leaf tissue removed from oil palm foliage (66.8%) was used for maintenance and body growth, and the remainder for bag construction.Larvae preferred uper leaf sufrace for feeding and lower surface for resting and moulting. Sexual dimorphism was also noted in pupal size (males smaller thean females) and developmental time (males,21.4 0.3 days; females, 10.0 0.4 days). Total developmental times of males and females did not differ, suggesting that overlapping generations are not a requisite for an aoutbreak. Sex ratio was male-biases (o.5:1)Bagworms were reared in a controlled environment room 9CER) to obtain details of their life history. Eggs were pale yellow and barrel-shaped, and their incubation period was 10.7 10.3 vs99.9 5.7 eggs/ ) yet lower than those recorded for several other species of Psychidae. Fertility was high (generally 90%). Sexual dimorphism in instar number was recorded (5-6 for males vs 6-7 for females) head capsule widths, bag lengths and morpholgy can be used to determine instars.Most leaf tissue removed from oil palm foliage (66.8%) was used for maintenance and body growth, and the remainder for bag construction.Larvae preferred uper leaf sufrace for feeding and lower surface for resting and moulting. Sexual dimorphism was also noted in pupal size (males smaller thean females) and developmental time (males,21.4 0.3 days; females, 10.0 0.4 days). Total developmental times of males and females did not differ, suggesting that overlapping generations are not a requisite for an aoutbreak. Sex ratio was male-biases (o.5:1)