Psychidae

Boisduval, 1829

The Psychidae also called Bugworm are a fairly small family of lepidoptera, with about 1350 described species. *
Cosmopolitan family ,members of the Psychidae are found globally.
There are ten subfamilies and about 240 genera.

Peculiarities of this family are the larvae that I build cases with silk and environmental materials such as sand, earth, lichens or plant materials.
These cases are connected to rocks, trees or hedges, when at rest or during the pupal phase, but are mobile and move together with the larva when it needs to move.
Cases of Psychidae larvae vary in size from less than 1 cm to 15 cm among some tropical species. Each caterpillar builds a particular case, typical of its species, making it more useful for identifying species than the adult form.

Adult females of many Psychidae species are without wings (or have vestigial wings only) and almost worm-like in appearance, with a rudimentary head. *
Adult males of most species are strong flyers with well developed wings and feathered antennae but only survive as long as necessary to reproduce due to an underdeveloped mouthparts that prevent them from feeding.

Depending on the species, the larvae feed on mosses, lichens or green leaves. In some species, parthenogenesis (type of sexual reproduction consisting in the development of unfertilized eggs) is known.

* Sobczyk, Thomas (2011). World Catalogue of Insects: Psychidae (Lepidoptera). UWA Publishing. ISBN 978-87-88757-98-9
** Studies on the origin of parthenogenesis in Solenobia triquetrella F. R. (Lepidoptera, Psychidae). Part II. Analysis of diploid parthenogenetic S. triquetrella behavior, cultivation results and cytology - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14444635/