[1] This species is classified as leaf-eating pest caterpillars that produce tough silk out of their bags from dried foliage.

Although initially native to Malaysia, this destructive leaf defoliating pest has now been recorded in many Southeast Asian regions and Pacific islands, including Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo (Brunei, Sabah), Solomon Islands, Samoa, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.

Gender determination of the bagworm is difficult in the larval stage, but size distinction in the pupal case lets us approximately determine the sex of the pest before it reaches the adult stage, since females generally have larger cases than males.

This pupa is messy looking in appearance and is made from randomly shaped leaf pieces, stalks and other natural materials.

Adult females - who spend the entirety of their lives in the pupa - are apterous, cylindrical, and creamy-white with either no or greatly minimized appendages.

The male pupa being a moth with eyes, antenna, and wings (wingspan of about 22-26 mm) marks sexual dimorphism in M.

Whenever the larvae of M. corbetti are resting, feeding, or mounting, they will ensure that the case is anchored to the leaf via a tough silk thread to prevent falls/contact with the ground.

The completion of mating is marked by the female's subsequent oviposition in the pupal skin, resulting in her shrinking to a blob-like mass that falls out of the case.

[3] Females have high reproductive potential (with a fecundity measure of over 3000 eggs/female) and in combination with their relatively long time to complete the larval period (about 12-17 weeks in a 5 month life cycle), M. corbetti are efficient at creating outbreak situations.

[4] The larva of M. corbetti attack the leaves in an aggressively destructive manner and the resulting defoliation causes major crop losses, often on economically important plants.

These species were identified as an unidentified tachinid fly from the order Diptera and an Ichneumon wasp (Enteromorpha spp.).

It is hypothesized that this species may have entered this area earlier but was unable to attain pest status due to the high parasitoid levels here.