Liothula omnivora
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Liothula omnivora, the common bag moth, is a psychid moth endemic to New Zealand. It is also known by several Māori vernacular names like the tūngou ngou, whare atua ('house of the spirit') or kopi ('shut'). There are over 50 species of Psychidae and at least two species of Liothula in New Zealand.
This species was described by Richard William Fereday in 1878. In 1928 George Hudson placed this species within the Oeceticus genus and amended its epithet to omnivorous. However this was not accepted by other taxonomists.
Like other bagworms, L. omnivora caterpillars construct and live within a small, mobile, tapering bag of silk, which provides camouflage and protection to the caterpillar. The bag is lengthened at the broad or mouth end as the caterpillar grows. The caterpillar secures itself within the bag using hooks on its anterior prolegs, allowing it to extend the head and thorax while dragging the bag behind it. When threatened, it quickly retreats into the bag and draws the mouth tightly closed. The caterpillar begins construction of its bag within a few days of hatching. Initially the bag is held erect, but as the caterpillar grows larger... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egmont National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 2 | Rakiura National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 3 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auckland | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a New Zealand Common Bag Moth sighting in Auckland on a given day, based on 144 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 41st most-seen of the 689 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and April–July
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a New Zealand Common Bag Moth in Auckland on a given day, against about 10% in March and August–January, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most New Zealand Common Bag Moth sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Auckland, in our data
Auckland is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate New Zealand Common Bag Moth sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Psychidae
The closest relatives of the New Zealand Common Bag Moth that you can see in Auckland (family Psychidae, Bagworm Moths) are Lepidoscia protorna (about 10%), Australian Bag Moth (about 10%) and Lepidoscia heliochares (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the New Zealand Common Bag Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Auckland (144 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
