Clever Bagworms

I saw these delicate constructs hanging on a small tree recently. 

 
At first, I thought they might be pupas of a moth/butterfly.

Suddenly, one of them started moving around and then I realized there was a caterpillar inside each case. 

   

Actually, these Christmas ornament-like structures are the “houses” of the Bagworm, larva of the moth family Psychidae, which is named for the baglike cases it builds.  

Each Bagworm lives inside a case and only sticks its head out to feed on leaves.

In order to have access to plenty of food, all of their “houses” are mobile which move around with the houseowner.   

To ensure natural camouflage from predators, the building materials are all from the habitat, from dead leaves to small twigs.  

However, life at the bottom of the food chain can be very tough. It didn’t take long for this spider to find its meal inside this Bagworm’s house.

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