the.com/silkworm
a domesticated caterpillar so pampered it forgot how to survive without humans.
means The larva of the moth Bombyx mori, which spins a cocoon of fine fiber that humans unwind into silk thread.
from A plain compound of "silk" and "worm," both Old English (seolc and wyrm). "Worm" once meant almost any creeping or crawling creature — including caterpillars, snakes, even dragons — so a "silk-worm" was simply the small crawling thing that made silk. "Silk" itself likely traveled the trade routes back from the East; many trace it ultimately to a name for the Chinese (compare Latin Sericum and Greek Sēres, "the silk people").
- single thread
- One cocoon spins up to 900 meters of silk.
- blind moths
- Adult moths can't fly or even eat.
- 5000 years
- Domesticated so long, no wild version exists.
- boiled alive
- Most cocoons are steamed before the moth escapes.
- leaf snobs
- They eat almost only mulberry leaves.
bombyx mori — domesticated silkworm species producing 90% of commercial silk, native to china
mulberry silkworm farming — sericulture industry in bangalore, india producing 23,000 tons of silk annually
wild silk tussar moth — antheraea species producing coarser tussar silk in india's forests