silkworms

• The silkworm eggs, laid out about 300 to 400 at a time, generally take about ten days to hatch
• They prefer eating white Mulberry tree leaves
• The larvae go into the motionless pupal state, after enclosing themselves in an envelope of raw silk, produced by their salivary glands.
• If the raw silk of a single cocoon is unfolded, it will contains raw silk thread of about 300 to 900 meters in length! The raw silk fibers, which are about 10 micrometers in diameter are very lustrous and fine. To make one pound of silk, about 3000 cocoons are boiled in water.
• Every year, 70 million pounds of raw silk is produced, after about 10 billion pounds of mulberry trees are consumed by the silkworm larvae!
• The length of the 70 million pound fabric can easily cover about 300 round trips to the Sun!