About Silkworns

Silkworms are the larva of a moth (Bombyx mori) native to Asia that spins a cocoon of fine, strong, lustrous fiber that is the source of commercial silk. The culture of silkworms is called sericulture. The various species of silkworms raised today are distinguished by the quality of the silk they produce. Silkworms feed on the leaves of the mulberries (genus Morus) & sometimes on the Osage orange (Maclura pomifera).
Bombyx Mori won't bite, making an ideal worm for feeding most reptiles, amphibians & other animals, & they offer great nutritional value.

Newborn are small for most kid reptiles to eat & young silkworms may even be fed so they will grow to a desired size. Silkworms are soft-bodied, slow moving & can grow to three inches in length. They are also comparatively speedy growing, reaching about three inches in length & prepared to cocoon in as small as 25 - 28 days.

Silkworms go through stages of development, as do most insects: egg, larva, pupa & adult. The adult (imago) stage is the silkworm moth. The larva is the silkworm caterpillar. The pupa is what the silkworm changes in to after spinning its cocoon before emerging as a moth. Since the silkworm grows a lot, it must shed its skin times while it is growing. These stages-within-a-stage are called instars.

Today, the silkworm moth lives only in captivity. Silkworms have been domesticated so that they can no longer survive independently in nature, since they have lost the ability to fly. All wild populations are extinct. Also contributing to their extinction is the odd fact that they only eat mulberry leaves.

Silkworms have been used by researchers to study pheromones or sexual attractant substances. The pheromones are released by female moths & the males detect the chemicals with olfactory hairs on their antennae. This enables the male to find the female for mating. The male antennae are made of lots of small hairs to increase the chances of picking up small amounts of the pheromones over long distances.