New genus and species of bagworm moth discovered in Kerala

A new genus and species of bagworm moth Capulopsyche keralensis has been discovered from the coffee plantations of Kerala.

A new genus and species of bagworm moth Capulopsyche keralensis has been discovered from the coffee plantations of Kerala. Researchers from the Zoology Department at St. Thomas College (Autonomous), Thrissur, have discovered the bagworm moth, new to science, from Nariyampara, Idukki district and Nelliampathy, Palakkad district.

The finding is part of the research of PhD scholar Usha A.U. She is supervised by Joyce Jose, both from the Zoology Department of the college. They were assisted by Thomas Sobczyk from Hoyerswerda, Germany, an international expert on psychidae and Roby T.J., Assistant Professor of Botany, Carmel College, Mala.

“The genus and species was named Capulopsyche keralensis. Capulo means coffee and psyche means moth or butterfly. The name therefore translates as ‘Coffee moth of Kerala’ as it was found from coffee plantations of Nariyampara and Nelliampathy,” says Dr. Joyce Jose.

Capulopsyche keralensis belongs to the moth family psychidae, which consists of very small moths. It is characterised by case-building behaviour of larvae and a high degree of sexual dimorphism. Females of many psychid species never develop into a moth and retain larval appearance.

“This is the first genus and species of subfamily Taleporiinae reported from India. The subfamily Taleporiinae is characterised by extreme sexual dimorphism. The females are pale yellowish, wingless, with short legs and antennae. The male moth is a small-sized brownish black moth with a wingspan 8–8.4 mm and body length of 2.9 mm,” Dr. Jose said.

The larval cases are elongated tube-like, wrapped with an outer sheath made up of bark tissues from the trees. The larvae of this species were found scraping on the bark of trees, they seem to feed on the bark tissues and depositions (algae) on the bark. The pupal cases are attached by a thread to the branches and underside of leaves. The life span of an emerged male adult is up to 4 to 5 days.

The discovery has been published in Zootaxa, an international scientific journal animal taxonomy and natural history on March 29, 2023. The same team of researchers had earlier rediscovered and redescribed Acanthopsyche alstoni Watt & Mann, a psychid, and described a new bagworm species Eumasia thomasii.