the wasp is largely black, yellowish, and red. The female wasp is about 12 mm in length, and like many Ichneumonids she has a protruding ovipositor almost as long as her gaster. A surprising feature of Sericopimpla sericata habits is that the adult kills bagworms in two ways. In either case it stings them with the ovipositor. The bagworm wriggles and contorts within the bag to avoid attack, but as a rule the female wasp succeeds in stinging it sooner or later. In some cases the female then proceeds to eat the prey herself. The sting paralyses the victim, and the wasp bites a hole in the bag and feeds through it. Such predatory feeding by parasitoids is very unusual. No doubt the female needs the plentiful fat and protein of the victim to produce eggs, much as many blood-sucking female insects need a blood meal before they can lay eggs. An adequately nourished female will parasitise the bagworm with several stings, perhaps dozens. Paralysed hosts remain fresh for months, long enough for the wasp larvae. The bagworm routinely infests the large local wattle plantations, which cover more than half a million acres (2,000 km2) in South Africa, primarily in Natal. Natural control of the bagworm is variable, but good enough that the use of the most dangerous insecticides has effectively been discontinued. Nowadays the policy is to spray only heavy infestations, and only at strategic times. In the mid-20th century chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticides such as toxaphene and endrin were the treatments of choice for control of wattle bagworm infestations, but since then the preference has shifted to the bacterial insecticide BTK. For small infestations or localized impact, "manual control"—simply picking bags from the trees—may be satisfactory. References Psychidae Moths of Africa Insects of Namibia Moths described in 1890