I found this very pretty lichen-covered casebearer on fallen bark during a recent visit to Cardiff’s Cathays Cemetery (this year I’ve been doing some voluntary genealogical research, which has led to a few recent cemetery visits – not that I need a lot of urging, as this cemetery is huge, an arboretum and a SSSI). By sheer coincidence, a moth ecologist I follow on social media posted a photo the very next day of a casebearer that looked very like what I’d seen. When I asked, George confirmed my find as the larva of the moth Luffia lapidella, also known as Ramshorn Bagworm, Virgin Smoke, Grey Bagworm, and Luffia ferchaultella.

As well as covering its case in colourful lichen, the larva also eats lichen, so can be found in the damp places where lichen thrives, like tree trunks and branches, fence posts and even rocks. You can read more on the Naturespot website here.