10 most valuable silkworms.

The silkworm, the larvae of the silkworm moth, is the primary source of silk raw material and has an important place in human economic life and cultural history. Native to northern China, the staple food is mulberry leaves, which can also be supplemented with goose greens. The cocoon is woven from a continuous piece of silk 300 to 900 meters (1000 to 3000 feet) in length. The worms and pupae of the house silkworm are edible and have therapeutic properties. So what are the ten most valuable silkworm species in the world for spitting silk?

1 The mulberry silkworm, also known as the silkworm, is an economic insect that feeds on mulberry leaves and spits silk and cocoons. The mulberry silkworm belongs to the order Lepidoptera, the silkworm moth family, with the scientific name Bombyx mori Linnaeus. The mulberry silkworm originated in China, domesticated from the primitive silkworms that inhabited mulberry trees in ancient times, and is homologous to the wild mulberry silkworm that feeds on mulberry trees in China today, with 28 pairs of chromosomes. The larvae of the silkworm moth, which eats mulberry leaves, spits out large quantities of silk for cocoons before pupating and is an important textile material. The mulberry silkworm is a fully metamorphic insect that passes through four morphologically and physiologically distinct stages of development: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The egg is the stage of embryogenesis and larvae formation. The larvae are the growth stage that feeds on nutrients, the pupa is the metamorphic stage that transitions from larvae to adults, and the adult is the reproductive stage that mates and lays eggs to produce offspring. Only the larval stage feeds throughout the entire generation and stores nutrients for the pupal and adult stages of life. It is almost exclusively mulberry silk, which is the best quality and most mature in breeding and reeling technology. It is the best quality silk and the most mature farming and reeling technology. It is used in such products as silk duvet and silk clothing.

2 The tiger silkworm is also known as the tiger silkworm, the zebra silkworm, and the tiger silkworm often referred to as the “tiger silkworm.” It is an oligophagous insect that prefers to eat mulberry plants. Especially mulberry leaves during their larval stage. They are generally monoecious, i.e., they only hatch once a year. In the Yangtze River basin, the eggs hatch naturally in mid-April under natural conditions. After about 23-28 days of rearing in captivity, the larvae form a cocoon and pupate, and then after 9-15 days, the adults emerge from their cocoons, and the adults (silkworm moths) mate and lay their eggs and die. The eggs are laid in summer, autumn and winter and hatch the following spring. A generation takes about 40 days from egg hatching to death. At its peak, the larvae are about 10,000 times the size of an ant silkworm (when newly hatched) and can be over 7cm long for females and slightly smaller for males. They are gentle and can be mixed with other species of silkworms.

3 Tussah (scientific name: Antheraea pernyi) is a genus of the silkworm in the Lepidoptera family. It is known as the spring silkworm, the mistletoe silkworm, the oak silkworm, and the mountain silkworm. It is a kind of silk-spitting insect named after it prefers the leaves of the Quercus Serrata tree. The cocoons can be reeled, mainly used to make Quercus silk, and the insects edible. They can be used as medicinal herbs, making them a unique insect resource with important economic value in China. It is an insect resource of great economic importance, special to China. The sericulture originated in the southern part of Shandong Province, China, and is second only to the domestic silkworm to produce cocoons and silk. The sericulture industry is mainly distributed in Liaoning, Shandong, Henan, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, and other provinces in China, with a small amount of distribution in Japan, Korea, India, North Korea, and other countries. Sericulture is a particular industry in China, and the annual production of sericulture cocoons has reached 70,000 tons. The output of sericulture in Liaoning province accounts for 80% of the national share and 70% of the world share.

4 The Castor Silkworm, also known as the Indian Silkworm Cassava Silkworm, is a species of the silkworm. It was originally a wild-grown silkworm that ate castor leaves, cassava leaves, cranberry leaves, stinkhorn leaves, horse pine leaves, and mountain cypress leaves, making it a highly adaptable and polyphagous silkworm. It is now grown in the wild and reared by hand or indoors by hand. The cocoon produced by the castor silkworm is thin and pointed at both ends. It was shaped like a date palm, inflated in the middle and unequal width on both sides of the waist. Or, in some cases, an irregular triangle with a closed tail and a small hole in the head. The castor silkworm is best suited to the hot, humid, and rainy summer months. It is native to the Assam forests of northeastern India and is therefore also known as the Indian silkworm.

5 The Chinese silkworm, the Chinese silkworm of the Lepidoptera family (Saturniidae). Also known as the mountain silkworm. In Japan, it is called the Japanese sericulture silkworm. A silk-spitting insect. Silk is a high-quality textile material—Monotreme, complete metamorphosis. The larvae are four sleepers and five instars, 50 to 60 days old. 1st instar larvae are yellowish-green, 2nd instar onwards green. Adults are mostly orange-yellow. Small silkworms can be reared indoors in northeastern China, while large silkworms are released into the Quercus (oak) forests and left to feed under human supervision. The silk is about 600 meters long, with a fibre size of 5-6 denier [1 denier (D) = 0.111112 x 10-6kg/m], and the strength and elongation are 2.5 and 1.5 times higher than those of mulberry silk, which retains its natural green colour after reeling. The weave is soft and wrinkle-free. The asparagus grows on dracaena trees in the woods near rivers, lakes, and ponds. The damp woodland and lush weeds here are suitable for the Tian silkworm.

6 The amber silkworm, known as the hook-winged silkworm moth, is a genus of insects in the Lepidoptera family of silkworm moths that grow in the Yarlung chilly climates Tsangpo River valley and the eastern Himalayas. Mainly in Assam, India, and parts of neighbouring Myanmar, and is also widely distributed in Yunnan, China. Amber silk has a natural golden colour, is lustrous, has good elongation, absorbs moisture, is resistant to washing, and does not fade easily. It is currently only produced and used in India, known as the Assam or Muga silkworm. The annual production of amber silk is 120-150 tonnes, mainly used to weave high-grade belts, sari, etc. Amber silk is rare, gorgeous, and noble and enjoys a high reputation; ancient India has always been the royal product, has a high commercial value, is 3-5 times more than domestic silk.

7 The fish line silkworm, a wild silk-spitting insect in the family Lepidoptera, also known as the maple silkworm. Its silk can be made into silkworm intestine thread (wound suture) and high-quality fishing silk, so it is called fishing silkworm. It is found in China, India, Myanmar, and Vietnam; in China, it is mostly found in Guangdong, Taiwan, Guangxi, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Hunan. The silkworm is monoecious, fully metamorphic, and overwinters as a pupa. The camphor silkworm eats many kinds of plants, mainly camphor, maple, cabinet willow, wild rose, sallow, guava, purple-shelled wood, coleus, etc. Those who eat camphor leaves have the best silk quality, while maple leaves have poorer silk quality.

8 The chestnut silkworm is an economic insect that feeds mainly on walnut and chestnut leaves and spits out silk and cocoons. It belongs to the order Lepidoptera, the family Macrobrachium. It is found in China, Japan, and other places. It mainly eats walnuts, chestnuts, apricots, maple poplar, camphor, elm, and other tree leaves. The cocoons of walnut leaves are heavy and thick, while those of Dei and chestnut leaves are poorer. In Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Jiangxi, and Guangxi provinces, it completes one generation per year and overwinters with its eggs. In the wild, the larvae hatch in late May, 4 or 5 sleeps, and mature in late June; after about 50d of maturity cocoon, cocoon appearance is lantern-shaped, with varying sizes of mesh. Cocoon formation takes about 2d; after 3-5d pupation. The cocoon can be reeled and used for silk spinning raw materials; silk quality is excellent. Chestnut silkworm can also be removed from the mature silkworm belly silk gland, soaked in acid, and stretched for fishing silk or medical silk.

9 Sapium, also known as the Great Mountain Silkworm and the Great Sapium Silkworm. It is found in China, India, Japan, Myanmar, Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia. It is mainly found in southern China, mainly in the mountainous areas of Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian provinces, but also in Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Taiwan, etc. It is 2 or 3 years old and overwinters in the nymphal state. The feeding season is from April to November. The adult moth has a wingspan of 25-30cm, making it the largest of the moths, and is known as the “King of Moths.” The top of the wings are sickle-shaped and curved, and the head, thorax, and abdomen are all russet. The central part of the fore and hind wings has a 3-angled transparent patch, the outer edge of which is black, and the outer edge of the black line is light red to purple-brown. The outer edges of the fore and hind wings are brown with undulating black stripes, and the forewings have a glance-like pattern on the wing surface. Two nights of eggs are laid about 200 eggs. The egg-laying period for each generation is 7-10 days. The larval stage is 6 or 7 years old, the full age of the spring and summer silkworm is about 35 days, and the autumn silkworm is about 40 days. Spring cocoons are larger; autumn cocoons are smaller, cocoon length about 8cm, width about 3cm, total cocoon weight 6.5-10g, cocoon layer weight 0.9-1.1g, cocoon layer rate of about 10%. Cocoons can be spun after degumming, excellent silk, good strength, and elongation, woven into silk, called “water communicative,” very durable.

10 The willow silkworm, one of the economic insects that spit silk cocoons, belong to the order Lepidoptera, the family Actias Selene Hubner. It is found in China, Japan, India, and other countries. It is found throughout China. The willow silkworm has 2-3 generations per year (rarely 4) and overwinters as a pupa. It mainly feeds on willow leaves, maple poplar, sebiferous, camphor, paulownia, and other trees. Mature silkworms form cocoons between the leaves, which are large, dark brown, and capable of reeling over 300m of silk.