Silk Worm

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