I Thought It Was a Pine Cone!

We have this Bald Cypress tree out in the front yard that Paul and the kids gave me for Mother's Day a few years ago. I love it! It's such a neat, different kind of tree. I'll officially introduce him to you in a later post. That's right. He has a name.

Anyway, this tree has always had these little pine cone looking things hanging on its limbs. Not knowing much about a Bald Cypress tree, I just figured that it must be something like a pine cone. And of course, I would forget to look it up when I got on the Internet. That's what I do when I get my turn on the computer. I just sit there and stare at the screen and have no idea what to do with it except blog and email. I could have all kinds of things that I want to look up when I'm not on the computer, then put me in the chair and I go blank. And then my turn is over.

Well, yesterday I found out what those neat little pine cones are.

They are Bagworms!

What?!

Yesterday, William said, come look at this weird bug.

There, in the yard, was one of those pine cones with a head sticking out of it eating grass. When I poked it with a stick, the head would go back in, but it stayed firmly attached to that grass. It wouldn't let it go.

Thankfully, Judy was there to tell me that she thought it was a bagworm. Ron seconded that. It was confirmed by the website What's That Bug? I also found some great pictures of the bagworm on a website called "Bug Guide." You ought to check out the ones from South Africa and India. Pretty amazing.

Warning: The aforementioned websites are not for the squeamish.






I know nothing more about them yet--except that they kind of creep me out--and at the same time they intrigue me.

And that the female is the one that is wingless and flightless while the male escapes from the pine cone thing with wings and the ability to fly, looking for females. Oh, and the female dies after she lays eggs in the pine cone thing.

Wow.