Question

details the production of silk

Answer 1

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Answer 2

Breeding silkworms

1 Only the healthiest moths are used for breeding. Their eggs are categorized, graded, and meticulously tested for infection. Unhealthy eggs are burned. The healthiest eggs may be placed in cold storage until they are ready to be hatched. Once the eggs are incubated, they usually hatch within seven days. They emerge at a mere one-eighth of an inch (3.2 mm) long and must be maintained in a carefully controlled environment.

Under normal conditions, the eggs would hatch once a year in the spring when mulberry trees begin to leaf. But with the intervention of sericulturists, breeding can occur as many as three times per year.

Feeding the larva

2 The silkworms feed only on the leaves of the mulberry tree. The mulberry leaves are finely chopped and fed to the voracious silkworms every few hours for 20 to 35 days. During this period the wormns increase in size to about 3.5 inches (8.9 cm). They also shed their skin, or molt, four times and change color from gray to a translucent pinkish color.

Spinning the cocoon

3 When the silkworm starts to fidget and toss its head back and forth, it is preparing to spin its cocoon. The caterpillar attaches itself to either a twig or rack for support. As the worm twists its head, it spins a double strand of fiber in a figure-eight pattern and constructs a symmetrical wall around itself. The filament is secreted from each of two glands called the spinneret located under the jaws of the silkworm. The insoluble protein-like fiber is called fibroin.

4 The fibroin is held together by sericin, a soluble gum secreted by the worm, which hardens as soon as it is exposed to air. The result is the raw silk fiber, called the bave. The caterpillar spins a cocoon encasing itself completely. It can then safely transform into the chrysalis, which is the pupa stage.

Stoving the chrysalis

5 The natural course would be for the chrysalis to break through the protective cocoon and emerge as a moth. However, sericulturists must destroy the chrysalis so that it does not break the silk filament. This is done by stoving, or stifling, the chrysalis with heat.