Whose discovery first explained the life cycle of the silkworm as the basis of silk production?

The silkworm was one of the earliest insects whose life cycle people studied for economic use. Ancient Chinese tradition connected silk production to the domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori, thousands of years ago. Observers recognized that the larva spins a cocoon of fine thread, which can be unwound into silk. That insight led to sericulture, one of the world’s oldest forms of insect farming. Silk became so valuable that it shaped trade routes and state economies across Asia and beyond.