Silkworm, Silk Making in Japan, 1878

Silkworm. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar or imago of the domestic silkmoth, Bombyx mori. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even osage orange. Domestic silkmoths are closely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5, 000 years in China, from where it spread to India, Korea, Japan, and the West. Kano December 1878

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Bombyx Cocoon Mori Silk-making Silkmaking Silkworm

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