4. What do you understand by sericulture? Write the various stages in life cycle of a silkworm
Answers
Explanation:
The life cycle of silk moth starts when a female silk moth lays eggs. The caterpillar or larvae are hatched from the eggs of the silk moth. The silkworms feed on mulberry leaves and give rise to pupa. In the pupa stage, a weave is netted around by the silkworm to hold itself.
Answer:
.The life cycle of silkworm consists of four stages:-
1) The first stage in its life cycle is egg.
The female moth lays an egg during summer and remains in the dormant state until the spring.
This allows the egg to hatch, the eggshell provides a protective covering for the embryonic development.
2)The second stage is a larval stage.
It is the vegetative stage and it is commonly called a silkworm and it is host specific to the mulberry.
The silkworm feed on tender mulberry leaves.
The larval stage lasts for about 27 days which goes through 5 growth stages called instars (the period between moulting).
3) The third stage pupa.
At this stage, it spins a protective cocoon around itself.
The cocoon serves as protection for the pupa which is in shades of white, cream and yellow.
The final moult takes place inside the cocoon and the larva develops into the brown and chitinous structure called the pupa.
The pupa takes about 2-3 weeks to metamorphose into an adult moth.
4) Cocoon is the fourth stage in which the larva spins a silk thread to protect itself from its predators.
5) The adult stage is called the imago.
It is the reproductive stage where females lay eggs.
Moths can not fly and lack functional mouthparts thus, it can not take in food