What is Silkworm?
{{Taxobox | name = Silk Worm | image = Pairedmoths.jpg | image_caption = Paired male (above) and female (below) | image2 = Silkworms3000px.jpg | image2_caption = Fifth instar silkworm larvae [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gugxvMIcKtw Video: Metamorphosis/Life cycle of the Silkworm] | status = DOM | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Arthropod]]a | classis = [[Insect]]a | ordo = [[Lepidoptera]] | familia = [[Bombycidae]] | genus = ''[[Bombyx]]'' | species = '''''B. mori''''' | binomial = ''Bombyx mori'' | binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[Systema Naturae|1758]]}} The '''silkworm''' is the [[larva]] (the active immature form of an insect) or caterpillar of the '''''Bombyx mori''''' [[moth]]. [[Silk]] has been made for at least 5000 years in [[China]]. The moth is important because it makes [[silk]]. It is entirely dependent on humans, and it no longer lives in the wild. Silkworms eat [[mulberry]] leaves, and are [[native]] to northern China. The domesticated ''B. mori'' and the wild ''[[Bombyx mandarina]]'' can still breed and sometimes produce hybrids.<ref>{{cite book |title=Evolution: principles and processes |author=Brian K. Hall |series=Topics in biology |year=2010 |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning |isbn=978-0-7637-6039-7 |page=400 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V24EHUgEl5EC&pg=PA342}}</ref>{{rp|342}} == Egg == The female silkworm lays about 300 eggs at a time. She lays eggs on the leaves of mulberry trees. The eggs are covered with gelatinous secretion by which they stick to the leaves. The female moth (silkworm) lays eggs and dies after laying eggs as she does not eat anything. The eggs are kept in a cool place so that they can be stored for a long time. In a favorable condition, they hatch into larvae. Larvae are produced in about 2 weeks from eggs at a temperature of 18 to 25 degree Celsius. . == Silk == The cocoon is made of one thread of raw silk from 300 to 900 meters (1000 to 3000 feet) long. The fibers are very thin. About 2,000 to 5,000 cocoons are needed to make a