Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

Bag moths  Ever wondered what it's like, living in a bag? There are many different species that live in bags or cases for prolonged periods of time and the cool thing is, they make those bags themselves. Silk appears to be the material of choice in the majority of bag-builders. That silk can be really strong too. One of the most obvious (up to 80 mm long) insects that shows off its bag in our garden is the native bag moth (Liothula omnivora). They are often found hanging from conifers and hebes, flaxes, tea-tree, willow, cherry, you name it. Their grey cases don’t really move much during the day, but at night the inhabitants cruise the foliage and nibble; creating holes.  The bags are constructed “as they go and grow”. Crossed layers of sturdy silk: impenetrable! They also add “camouflage” to the bags: pieces of dead foliage, twigs and other locally-found materials. That can include bits of plastic bags or psychedelic coloured post-it notes (young scientists experimenting with drugs!).  The cases protect the