
Portable Pupal Case of a Tortricid Moth (Spilonota constrictana)
This was a really interesting find for me. The cracked brown structure up the stem is the dried-up "nut" of this Callistemon but the smaller structure looking like two stacked pots is the portable larval case of a small moth. I believe that these "pots" are made up of tightly rolled bits of bark or leaf and probably stuck together with silk. I have seen up to a 3-pot stack and assume that as the larva outgrows a pot it makes another one to add to the first. Again, The moth larva probably feeds head down and wanders around being protected within the case.
The following spotting shows a similar stack with the outer skin ( exuvia) of the adult still stuck to the base of the stack.
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