Psychidae


Psychidae moths
In Eakring and Nottinghamshire

This page introduces another unusual and rarely featured group of insects - a family of moths known as Psychids. They are often very small, difficult to find and considerably under-recorded throughout the UK. It details just a few of the UK's Psychidae moths and their current status within Nottinghamshire and the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Derbyshire.

It will also be updated with any new developments affecting the current status of these moths within Nottinghamshire, as the result of an ongoing survey. An introduction to Psychidae moths The Psychidae certainly represent some of the strangest UK moths and are sometimes more commonly known as "Bagworms". Male Psychids are fully winged, but many species have grub-like wingless females, that bear little resemblance to a moth at all. Also there are some species in the UK in which only the female is known and she is self-fertile. The last few years has seen a considerable increase in interest in Psychids from UK lepidopterists, and searching for the often well camoflauged larval cases during the Winter months, now regularly fills the gap between light-trapping seasons.		Above:- Female Psyche casta

The term Bagworm is derived from the case which the larva constructs around itself as it grows. The case is based on a silk tube, to which the larva attaches various items of plant, lichens, algae, sand, insects and debris. Although many species produce cases which are readily identifiable through combinations of shape, size and material used, this cannot always be guaranteed with 100% certainty between some species that construct very similar cases. Lepidopterists found that correct identification can come from the discarded pupal headplate after hatching. Examination under a microscope is then quite easy to determine species.

Pupal headplates of D. lichenella and D. inconspicuella are shown on the right. The photographs are greatly enlarged and not to scale. Differences in the length of antennae between species are not always obvious, with much depending on how they are viewed. The antennae of both D. lichenella and D.triquetrella are obviously longer than those of D. inconspicuella.


Dahlica lichenella		Dahlica inconspicuella

The larvae of many species feed on algae or lichen growing on tree trunks, walls and stones etc. Cases may be found by searching the crevices of Oaks and other trees, but the smooth bark of Beech cases to stand out more easily when searched for. Changes/confusion within Psychidae nomenclature There are several UK Psychidae (some featured on this page) currently named differently by European entomologists. In order to lessen confusion, I have now reverted to using European names for all species featured. In Britain two Luffia species were thought to occur, the parthenogenetic Luffia ferchaultella, with self-fertile wingless females, widespread in the southern part of Britain, and the bisexual Luffia lapidella, with winged males and wingless females, in Britain occurring only in Cornwall. Larvae and cases of these species are identical. In recent DNA tests the two species could not be separated, so technically they are two forms of one species, the bisexual form being Luffia lapidella f. lapidella and the parthenogenetic form being Luffia lapidella f. ferchaultella. Other name changes currently in use include Diplodoma herminata - now D. laichartingella, Narycia monilifera - now N. duplicella and Bacotia sepium now B. claustrella.

A brief history of Psychidae in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire The late Ken Cooper's 1993 listing for the county shows just five species recorded from Nottinghamshire. The status of all in Nottinghamshire is presumed by the county recorder as being common, but there seems little interest and possibly a great deal of under-recording of micro-lepidoptera by the county's lepidopterists, which helps to account for this. Prior to the onset of our surveying Nottinghamshire Psychidae, there was just one known record of D. laichartingella (at Carlton on August 5th 1988. M. Sterling) Note:- The table below shows the relevant county Psychid lists at the end of September 2006. * denotes records considered doubtful

Nottinghamshire Psychidae	Leicestershire Psychidae	Derbyshire Psychidae

0175 Narycia duplicella	0175 Narycia duplicella	0175 Narycia duplicella
	0176 Dahlica triquetrella
0177 Dahlica inconspicuella		0177 Dahlica inconspicuella
0179 Dahlica lichenella	0179 Dahlica lichenella
0180 Diplodoma laichartingella	0180 Diplodoma laichartingella	0180 Diplodoma laichartingella
0181 Taleporia tubulosa	0181 Taleporia tubulosa	0181 Taleporia tubulosa

0185 Luffia lapidella f. ferchaultella	0185 Luffia lapidella f. ferchaultella
0186 Psyche casta	0186 Psyche casta	0186 Psyche casta
		0189 Epichnopterix plumella *

		0191 Acanthopsyche atra *

Numbers before species name refer to Bradley and Fletcher classification system

At the start of 2006, Derbyshire and Leicestershire figured much better for Psychidae species than Notts. The three counties all listed N. duplicella, T. tubulosa, D. laichartingella and P. casta, and Leicestershire is still waiting to record the commonest of the British Dahlica's (D. inconspicuella) Many of Leicestershire's records have come from Swithland Reservoir - a site that has good numbers of L. lapidella f.ferchaultella, but has recently produced first county records of D. triquetrella, D. lichenella (both in 2005) and N. duplicella (2004)

Derbyshire's records date back earlier, but there seem to be fewer follow-ups after first county records. Psychidae here are represented by N. duplicella (Chatsworth 1981) D. inconspicuella (Dovedale 1974, Beeley Moor 1986 and MiddletonTop 1987) D. laichartingella (Wirksworth c1892) T. tubulosa (Caulke Est 1980s and Clough Wood 1980's) Of the Derbyshire list, there are two species whose records are currently considered doubtful - these being E. plumella (Repton Shrubs 1920' s) and A. atra. N. duplicella is without doubt grossly under-recorded in Derbyshire and systematic searching will probably reveal a status similar to that I have found in Nottinghamshire.

P. casta is assumed to be generally quite common throughout all three counties.

Nottinghamshire Survey Work

My wife Dilys and myself decided to search actively for Psychids at the end of February 2006. Our aim being to map the occurring species and their distribution within the county as is practically possible. The main areas of study will be the Eakring area, Sherwood Forest and at other sites and areas occasionally visited through work, but it is hoped that by the end of 2007, most suitable sites within Nottinghamshire will have been surveyed.

The latest version of our survey results can be downloaded as a pdf file, by clicking the link below. The file includes the most current Nottinghamshire distribution maps for each species, plus additonal photographs not featured here.

The current status and distribution of Nottinghamshire Psychidae Moths ..................(File size 3.22Mb)
Published March 2008 .....................................................................................................................................Download as an Adobe pdf. file

Psychidae photographs This section will be updated with new photographs as and when they become available. Links to larger images of each species are available under photographs shown on this page.

0175 Narycia duplicella
Found and photographed at Nettleworth Manor, near Mansfield Woodhouse Nottinghamshire on March 6th 2006.		Adult reared from ex larva found at Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire on May 4th 2006.

Click here for larger Narycia duplicella images
These cases were found on Aspen at Nettleworth Manor (open parkland/agricultural) and in Sherwood Forest. Measuring 6.5mm, the cases were found within bark crevices and both larvae became active upon arrival home. This has been found to be one of the commonest Psychids in Nottinghamshire.

0179 Dahlica lichenella Lichen Case-bearer
Adult female reared from larval case found on the wall of Market Warsop Cemetery, Nottinghamshire on March 20th 2006.		Larval case photographed on the wall of Market Warsop Cemetery, Nottinghamshire on March 19th 2006.

Click here for larger Dahlica lichenella images
With case lengths between 6-7mm when found, several cases found on the wall at Market Warsop Cemetery were initially identified as those of Lichen Case-bearer D. lichenella. Cases are slightly larger and bulkier than those of D. inconspicuella in appearance. This female emerged a week after being taken into captivity, hatching sometime during the morning of March 27th. It died later that same evening after laying eggs in the case, living only for about 6-8 hours. Identity was confirmed via examination of the pupal head case. This is the first-ever record of D.lichenella for Nottinghamshire (VC56)

0180 Diplodoma laichartingella
Adult reared from ex-larva obtained from Holborn Hill Plantation, Sherwood Forest. Photographed early 2007.		Photographed at Holborn Hill Plantation, Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire on March 29th 2006.


The occupied case shown above was only the second record of D.laichartingella for Nottinghamshire and was found on Beech. During the Winter months, cases are generally found tucked well into the characteristic hollows around the roots of mature Beech trees near ground level. This species has a two year larval period and the case measures anything up to 11.5mm. Mature cases contain a good deal of insect fragments which can be seen better by clicking on the link to view the larger images. Spring is the best time to find the cases of this species, as the larvae become active and move back up the tree trunks to begin feeding. Observations currently suggests that D.laichartingella is confined to the Sherwood Forest area. Since the pictured cases were found, my wife and I found other cases fairly regularly, including seven moving up one old Oak stump. Even old stumps set within acres of a Pine plantation are utilised and often productive areas to find this species. March-April is best.

0181 Taleporia tubulosa
Photographed at Budby Common, Nottinghamshire on March 14th 2006.		Adult male, reared from larval case found at Holborn Hill Plantation, Nottinghamshire. Photographed on May 23rd 2006.

Click here for larger Taleporia tubulosa images

Empty cases are around 15mm in length and are very easy to find (unlike alot of Psychid cases) on the trunks of trees. Smooth barked trees such as Beech are particularly favoured, especially where there is limited ground-cover. Fence posts are also utilised by the pupating larvae on Budby Common, where the species seems to be quite localised. All cases found during the Winter months are from the previous year, active larvae remaining on the ground until the Spring, then climbing trunks to pupate in suitable sites (second week of May in 2006). This is one of the few species occurring in Nottinghamshire which are easy to identify and survey results have so far indicated that T. tubulosa is often abundant where it occurs.

0184 Luffia lapidella f.ferchaultella
Photographed at Nottingham City Hospital July 2006.		Photographed at Nottingham City Hospital July 2006.


		Photographed at Clipstone near Mansfield, January 2007.
In July 2006 Dilys and myself found a few cases of this Psychid on some mature trees in the grounds of the Nottingham City Hospital. Of the few trees sampled, virtually all had cases and this species is likely common throughout the hospital grounds. This represented the first-ever record of L. lapidella f. ferchaultella for Nottinghamshire (VC56) In December 2006 I found another case during a quick check of a single roadside Lime tree in the Mapperley area of Nottingham. Then in January 2007, I found hundreds on various roadside trees at Clipstone near Mansfield. Other likely urban sites have yet to be surveyed for this moth, but observations by European entomologists, suggested that Luffia lapidella f.ferchaultella is common on many roadside trees in large cities and seemed to prefer a more polluted habitat. It now seems that this Psychid is probably common throughout much of the Nottingham city area and possibly in the county's other larger towns.

0186 Psyche casta

Male, photographed from larval case found at Sherwood Forest, near Edwinstowe Nottinghamshire on May 19th 2007.

Larval case, photographed at Lound Wood, Eakring Nottinghamshire on July 26th 2005.

Click here for larger Psyche casta images

Psyche casta is one of the easiest cases to find and seems common in the Sherwood Forest area. There are currently only two Eakring records. With a case length of between 8-12mm, it is distinctive enough to be spotted and identified with reasonable confidence. Cases can be found on low-growing plants such as Bramble (above left) and tree trunks during the late Spring and Summer months.

Status of Nottinghamshire Psychidae - January 8th 2007

Narycia duplicella has been found at most sites surveyed (including some urban sites) although Sherwood Forest is undoubtedly it's stronghold.

Dahlica inconspicuella was only found at Lound Wood (Eakring) and at Clipstone Old Quarter and Budby Common in Sherwood Forest. It proved a difficult species to find.

Dahlica lichenella was recorded from just two sites during 2006. Found on the wall at the entrance to Market Wasop Cemetary and on trees at Hanger Hill Plantation.

Diplodoma laichartingella was eventually recorded from several sites within Sherwood Forest, including Duncan Wood, Boughton Brake, Holborn Hill Plantation, Budby Common, Bradmer Hill, Gibralter Plantation and Sherwood Forest CP. Diplodoma laichartingella was difficult to find during the Winter months, but searching hollows formed around the roots of Beech trees proved very successful. Larval cases were easier to spot during mid-late April, when they began moving back up the host trunks to resume feeding.

Taleporia tubulosa was recorded from the following sites; Budby Common, Burstheart Hill, Hundred Acre Wood, Cuckney Hay Wood, Holborn Hill Plantation, Hanger Hill Plantation, Clipstone Old Quarter, Sherwood Forest CP and Gibraltar Plantation around the Sherwood Forest area and at Lound Wood (Eakring) The favoured habitat was Beech woodland where there was little under-storey vegetation. Old cases could be found throughout the Winter months but large numbers of habited cases were found climbing Beech trunks during the second week of May.

Luffia lapidella f.ferchaultella was recorded on the trunks of mature trees in the grounds of Nottingham City Hospital during July and on roadside Lime trees in the Mapperley area of Nottingham. Large numbers were found in early 2007 on roadside trees at Clipstone near Mansfield.

Psyche casta is common and recorded from most sites surveyed during the year. Cases were easy to find on posts, tree trunks and low vegetation, but were also found fairly high off the ground on Sallows on Warsop Main Pit Top.

Thanks to the following contributors

Mark Skevington for the Leicestershire information, courtesy of the Leicestershire & Rutland Moth Group, Dr Sheila Wright (Nottinghamshire county macro-moth recorder) and Dave Budworth for the Derbyshire records. A special thanks to Henk ten Holt for his invaluable ID help, suggestions/corrections and assistance in writing the Psychidae nomenclature section of this page.

0177 Dahlica inconspicuella Lesser Lichen Case-bearer
Female reared ex-Sherwood Forest CP larva, photographed on March 24th 2010		Male photographed at rest on Oak in Sherwood Forest Nottinghamshire on April 27th 2006.

Click here for larger Dahlica inconspicuella images
Fairly common at Sherwood Forest, most especially around the Country Park area. In early 2010, we found three cases during casual searches of tree trunks and found three active larva, ascending the trunks of trees. The photograph of the newly emerged female, are the only ones we can currently find on the internet.