DEFOLIATION OF AN ECUADORIAN MANGROVE FOREST BY THE BAGWORM, OIKETICUS KIRBYI GUILDING (LEPIDOPTERA: PSYCHIDAE)

Abstract

A defoliation of mangrove forests by the bagworm, Oiketicus kirbyi Guilding, was reported on February 20, 1989 within the Ecuadorian Ecological Reserve of Churute. By mid-September, the population collapsed after defoliating about 1200 ha of the Reserve. Infestation spread was down wind; a pattern presumed to be caused by air borne larvae. Collapse of the outbreak was attributed to increased parasitism, avian predation, physiologically inferior adults (as assumed from decreased pupal weights), and lack of females in the most severely defoliated areas.