Thursday, September 30, 2010

Silk Worm












The silk worm is native on two continents, Asia and Africa.    
My first encounter with silk worms in person was on a tour 
of a silk worm factory in Suzhou, China.  The Bombyx mori 
larva is the scientific name of the silk worm from Asia which 
is the most widely used to make silk worldwide.  Silk worm 
domestication started in China about 2,000 years ago.  Silk 
worms feed mainly on mulberry leaves. 


 
 
    At about one month old the silk worm attaches itself 
    to a twig and begins spinning a cocoon for itself.  The 
    cocoon, which is close to a 1/2 mile long, is what humans 
    use to make silk.  Silk worms do not mature to their 
    adult moth stage when humans use their cocoons for silk, 
    most of the time. 
                                  




    Silk worms are also used as a traditional chinese medicine
    to lessen phlegm, expel flatulence, and lessen spasms.  In
    some cultures silk worms are eaten as well.  A man by the
    name of Pasteur saved the French silk worm in the 18th century
    from pebrine which is a protozoan disease affecting insects.
    This disease affecting the silk worm is caused by microsporidian
    parasites, usually the Nosema bombycis but at times the
    Variomorpha, Pleistophora and Thelophania species. The silk
    worm is in the phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, order
    Lepidoptera, family Bombycidae.

    By Clint Harrison

    * Pictures taken by myself at the Silk Factory in Suzhou, China