Some Factors Affecting Population Size of the Bagworm, Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) 1

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Abstract
Some factors which affect the population size of Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Haworth) were studied by inspection of its cases collected from the field in witer. Average fecundity, frequency of reproductive females, percentage females, parasitism, and predation varied significantly among samples from different host plants and among samples from trees of Juniperus virginiana L., all in the same grove. Percent mortality from unknown causes was significantly dependent on host species. Frequency of reproductive females was density dependent in bagworms feeding on J. virginiana. Groups of bagworms might escape parasites and other causes of mortality by colonizing new host individuals. Females which fed on Acer palmatum atropurpureum Nichols did not reproduce. If a 1: 1 sex ratio can be assumed to occur in bagworms at birth, males, on the average, suffered higher mortality than females.

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