Little Tragedies

This is the abandoned bag and chrysalis shell of a male bagworm. I have written of these sad creatures before. The young caterpillars weave about themselves a sturdy bag in which they live and grow. There is a hole at the top through which they eat and drag themselves about, and another hole at the bottom to expel the waste. When the time comes the caterpillar turns into a chrysalis and then into a moth inside the bag. The male moth emerges and goes off in search of a bag containing a receptive female moth. He mates with her through the lower hole in her bag and dies. She lays her eggs and dies without having left her bag. That is how I know this bag belonged to a male.