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Silkworms and mulberry leaves placed on trays (Liang Kai's Sericulture c. 13th century) Silkworms were first domesticated in China more than 5,000 years ago. [28] [29] Pupae Silkworm cocoons weighed and sorted (Liang Kai's Sericulture) Silkworm breeding is aimed at the overall improvement of silkworms from a commercial point of view.
Morus alba, known as white mulberry, common mulberry and silkworm mulberry, [2] is a fast-growing, small to medium-sized mulberry tree which grows to 10–20 m (33–66 ft) tall. It is native to China and India and is widely cultivated and naturalized elsewhere.
Bombyx is the genus of true silk moths or mulberry silk moths of the family Bombycidae, also known as silkworms, which are the larvae or caterpillars of silk moths. The genus was erected as a subgenus [ 2 ] by Carl Linnaeus in his 10th edition of Systema Naturae (1758).
The Ancient Greeks and Romans cultivated the mulberry for silkworms; at least as early as 220 AD, Emperor Elagabalus wore a silk robe. [32] English clergy wore silk vestments from about 1500 onwards. [32] Mulberry and the silk industry played a role in colonial Virginia. [32]
Woven silk textile from tomb no 1. at Mawangdui in Changsha, Hunan province, China, from the Western Han dynasty, 2nd century BC Rearing of wild Eri silk worm, Assam. Several kinds of wild silk, produced by caterpillars other than the mulberry silkworm, have been known and spun in China, Indian subcontinent, and Europe since ancient times ...
The silkworms are fed with mulberry leaves, and after the fourth moult, they climb a twig placed near them and spin their silken cocoons. The silk is a continuous filament comprising fibroin protein , secreted from two salivary glands in the head of each worm, and a gum called sericin , which cements the filaments.
Thailand's silkworm farmers cultivate both types of the domesticated silkworms that produce commercial silk: Samia ricini, commonly known as the eri silkworm, which produces matte eri silk, and the Bombyx mori, producer of the better known, glossy mulberry silk. [1] The latter is by far the larger silk producer of the two. [2]
The silkworm Bombyx mori is fed on mulberry leaves cultivated in plantations. Silkworms are also found wild on forest trees, e.g Antheraea paphia which produces the tasar silk ( Tussah ). Antheraea paphia feeds on several trees such as Anogeissus latifolia , Terminalia tomentosa , T. arjuna ( Terminalia arjuna ), Lagerstroemia parviflora and ...