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The Cossidae, the cossid millers or carpenter millers, make up a family of mostly large miller moths. This family contains over 110 genera with almost 700 known species, and many more species await description. Carpenter millers are Lepidoptera found worldwide, They are nocturnal, except for the subfamily Ratardinae.
This family includes many species with large and with a wingspan from . These moths are mostly grey; some have long, narrow wings and resemble (Sphingidae) which are more advanced macrolepidoptera, however. Many are twig, bark, or leaf , and Cossidae often have some sort of large marking at the tip of the forewing uppersides, conspicuous in flight, but resembling a broken-off twig when the animals are resting.
Caterpillars are smooth with a few hairs. Most cossid caterpillars are tree borers, in some species taking up to three years to mature. The caterpillars within their tunnels; they often have an unpleasant smell, hence another colloquial name is goat moths.
The family includes the carpenterworm ( Prionoxystus robiniae) and the goat moth ( Cossus cossus) which have gained popularity as pests. However, the large caterpillars of species that do not smell badly are often Entomophagy. – among the Outback's most famous bush tucker – are most commonly the caterpillars of Endoxyla leucomochla, one of the more than 80 cossid species in Australia. In Chile, the sweet-smelling caterpillars of the Chilean moth ( Chilecomadia moorei) are harvested in quantity and internationally traded as butterworms, for use as pet food and fishing bait.
The Cossidae were usually divided into six subfamilies.Pitkin & Jenkins (2004) and see references in Savela (2006) However, numerous new subfamilies have been described recently, the current taxonomy is:
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