What order of insects does the silkworm belong to? Life cycle of the silkworm butterfly. Protection and conservation

The silkworm (lat. Bombyx mori) is a nondescript little butterfly with off-white wings that can't fly at all. But it is thanks to her efforts that women of fashion all over the world have been able to enjoy outfits made of beautiful soft fabrics for more than 5000 years, the brilliance and colorful transfusion of which fascinate at first sight.

flickr/c o l o r e s s

Silk has always been a valuable commodity. The ancient Chinese - the first manufacturers of silk fabric - kept their secret securely. For its disclosure, an immediate and terrible death penalty was due. They domesticated silkworms as early as the 3rd millennium BC, and to this day these small insects work to satisfy the vagaries of modern fashion.

flickr/Gustavor..

There are monovoltine, bivoltine and polyvoltine silkworm breeds in the world. The former give only one generation per year, the latter two, and the third several generations per year. An adult butterfly has a wingspan of 40-60 mm, it has an underdeveloped mouth apparatus, so it does not feed throughout its entire life. short life. The wings of the silkworm are off-white in color, brownish bandages are clearly visible on them.

flickr/janofonsagrada

Immediately after mating, the female lays eggs, the number of which varies from 500 to 700 pieces. The laying of a silkworm (like all other representatives of the peacock-eye family) is called grena. It has an elliptical shape, flattened on the sides, with one side slightly larger than the other. On a thin pole there is a recess with a tubercle and a hole in the center, which is necessary for the passage of the seed thread. The size of the grena depends on the breed - in general, Chinese and Japanese silkworms have less grena than European and Persian ones.

flickr/basajauntxo

Silkworms (caterpillars) emerge from the egg, to which all the views of silk producers are riveted. They grow in size very quickly, shedding four times in their lifetime. The entire cycle of growth and development lasts from 26 to 32 days, depending on the conditions of detention: temperature, humidity, food quality, etc.

flickr/Rerlins

Silkworms feed on the leaves of the mulberry tree (mulberry), so silk production is possible only in places where it grows. When the time of pupation comes, the caterpillar wraps itself in a cocoon, consisting of a continuous silk thread with a length of three hundred to one and a half thousand meters. Inside the cocoon, the caterpillar transforms into a chrysalis. In this case, the color of the cocoon can be very different: yellowish, greenish, pinkish or some other. True, only silkworms with white cocoons are bred for industrial needs.

flickr/JoseDelgar

Ideally, the butterfly should emerge from the cocoon on the 15-18th day, however, unfortunately, it is not destined to live up to this time: the cocoon is placed in a special oven and kept for about two to two and a half hours at a temperature of 100 degrees Celsius. Of course, the pupa dies, and the process of unwinding the cocoon is greatly simplified. In China and Korea, fried pupae are eaten, in all other countries they are considered just “production waste”.

flickr/Roger Wasley

Sericulture has long been an important industry in China, Korea, Russia, France, Japan, Brazil, India and Italy. Moreover, about 60% of all silk production falls on India and China.

The history of silkworm breeding

The history of breeding this butterfly, belonging to the family of real silkworms (Bombycidae), is associated with ancient China, a country long years which kept the secret of making an amazing fabric - silk. In ancient Chinese manuscripts, the silkworm was first mentioned in 2600 BC, and during archaeological excavations in the southwest of Shanxi province, silkworm cocoons dating back to 2000 BC were found. The Chinese knew how to keep their secrets - any attempt to take out butterflies, caterpillars or silkworm eggs was punishable by death.

But all secrets will eventually be revealed. This is what happened with silk production. First, some selfless Chinese princess in the 4th century. AD, having married the king of small Bukhara, she brought him a gift of silkworm eggs, hiding them in her hair. About 200 years later, in 552, two monks came to the emperor of Byzantium, Justinian, who offered to deliver silkworm eggs from distant China for a good reward. Justinian agreed. The monks set out on a perilous journey and returned the same year with silkworm eggs in their hollow staffs. Justinian was fully aware of the importance of his purchase and by a special decree he ordered silkworms to be bred in the eastern regions of the empire. However, sericulture soon fell into decline and only after the Arab conquests flourished again in Asia Minor, and later throughout North Africa, in Spain.

After IV crusade(1203-1204) silkworm eggs came from Constantinople to Venice, and since then silkworms have been bred quite successfully in the Po Valley. In the XIV century. sericulture began in the south of France. And in 1596, silkworms were first bred in Russia - first near Moscow, in the village of Izmailovo, and over time - in the more suitable southern provinces of the empire.

However, even after the Europeans learned to breed silkworms and unwind cocoons, most of the silk continued to be delivered from China. For a long time, this material was worth its weight in gold and was available only to the rich. Only in the 20th century, artificial silk somewhat pressed natural silk on the market, and even then, I think, not for long - after all, the properties of natural silk are truly unique.
Silk fabrics are incredibly durable and last a very long time. Silk is lightweight and retains heat well. Finally, natural silk is very beautiful and lends itself to uniform dyeing.

Used sources.

Silkworm (lat. bombyx mori) is a nondescript little butterfly with off-white wings that can't fly at all. But it is thanks to her efforts that women of fashion all over the world have been able to enjoy outfits made of beautiful soft fabrics for more than 5000 years, the brilliance and colorful transfusion of which fascinate at first sight.

Silk has always been a valuable commodity. The ancient Chinese - the first manufacturers of silk fabric - kept their secret securely. For its disclosure, an immediate and terrible death penalty was due. They domesticated silkworms as early as the 3rd millennium BC, and to this day these small insects work to satisfy the vagaries of modern fashion.

There are monovoltine, bivoltine and polyvoltine silkworm breeds in the world. The former give only one generation per year, the latter two, and the third several generations per year. An adult butterfly has a wingspan of 40-60 mm, it has an underdeveloped mouth apparatus, so it does not feed throughout its short life. The wings of the silkworm are off-white in color, brownish bandages are clearly visible on them.

Immediately after mating, the female lays eggs, the number of which varies from 500 to 700 pieces. The laying of a silkworm (like all other representatives of the peacock-eye family) is called grena. It has an elliptical shape, flattened on the sides, with one side slightly larger than the other. On a thin pole there is a recess with a tubercle and a hole in the center, which is necessary for the passage of the seed thread. The size of grena depends on the breed - in general, Chinese and Japanese silkworms have less grena than European and Persian ones.

Silkworms (caterpillars) emerge from the egg, to which all the views of silk producers are riveted. They grow in size very quickly, shedding four times in their lifetime. The entire cycle of growth and development lasts from 26 to 32 days, depending on the conditions of detention: temperature, humidity, food quality, etc.

Silkworms feed on the leaves of the mulberry tree (mulberry), so silk production is possible only in places where it grows. When the time of pupation comes, the caterpillar wraps itself in a cocoon, consisting of a continuous silk thread with a length of three hundred to one and a half thousand meters. Inside the cocoon, the caterpillar transforms into a chrysalis. In this case, the color of the cocoon can be very different: yellowish, greenish, pinkish or some other. True, only silkworms with white cocoons are bred for industrial needs.

Ideally, the butterfly should emerge from the cocoon on the 15-18th day, however, unfortunately, it is not destined to live up to this time: the cocoon is placed in a special oven and kept for about two to two and a half hours at a temperature of 100 degrees Celsius. Of course, the pupa dies, and the process of unwinding the cocoon is greatly simplified. In China and Korea, fried pupae are eaten, in all other countries they are considered just “production waste”.

Sericulture has long been an important industry in China, Korea, Russia, France, Japan, Brazil, India and Italy. Moreover, about 60% of all silk production falls on India and China.

The silkworm is represented by monovoltine (give one generation a year), bivoltine (give two generations a year) and polyvoltine (give several generations a year) breeds.

Egg

After mating, the female lays eggs (500 to 700 on average), the so-called grena. Grena has an oval (elliptical) shape, flattened laterally, somewhat thicker at one pole; soon after its deposition, one impression appears on both flattened sides. At the thinner pole there is a rather significant depression, in the middle of which there is a tubercle, and in the center of it there is a hole - a micropyle, designed for the passage of the seed thread. The size of grena is about 1 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, but it varies considerably between breeds. In general, breeds of European, Asia Minor, Central Asian and Persian give a larger gren than Chinese and Japanese. Egg laying can last up to three days. Diapause in the silkworm falls on the egg stage. Diapausing eggs develop in the spring of the following year, while non-diapausing eggs develop the same year.

Caterpillar

A caterpillar comes out of the egg (so-called silkworm), which grows rapidly and molts four times. After the caterpillar has gone through four molts, its body becomes slightly yellow. The caterpillar develops within 26-32 days. The duration of development depends on the temperature and humidity of the air, the quantity and quality of food, etc. The caterpillar feeds exclusively on mulberry leaves (mulberry tree). Therefore, the spread of sericulture is associated with the places where this tree grows.

While pupating, the caterpillar weaves a cocoon, the shell of which consists of a continuous silk thread ranging in length from 300-900 meters to 1500 m in the largest cocoons. In the cocoon, the caterpillar turns into a chrysalis. The color of the cocoon can be different: pinkish, greenish, yellow, etc. But for the needs of industry, only silkworm breeds with white cocoons are currently bred.

The release of butterflies from cocoons usually occurs on the 15-18th day after pupation. But the silkworm is not allowed to survive to this stage - the cocoons are kept for 2-2.5 hours at a temperature of about 100 ° C, which kills the pupa and simplifies the unwinding of the cocoon.

Class - Insects

Detachment - Lepidoptera

Family - silkworms

Genus/Species - bombyx mori

Basic data:

DIMENSIONS

Length: caterpillar - 8.5 cm.

Wingspan: 5 cm

Wings: Two pairs.

Mouth apparatus: the caterpillar has one pair of jaws, while the adult butterfly has atrophied mouthparts.

BREEDING

Number of eggs: 300-500.

Development: from egg to pupa - time depends on temperature; from pupa to hatching butterfly 2-3 weeks.

LIFE STYLE

Habits: mulberry silkworm (see photo) is a domesticated insect species.

What does it eat: mulberry leaves.

Lifespan: an adult silkworm lives 3-5 days, a caterpillar - 4-6 weeks.

RELATED SPECIES

There are about 300 species of silkworms in the world, such as oak Chinese silkworm and atlas.

The ancient Chinese domesticated the silkworm 4,500 years ago. They obtained silk from cocoons woven by silkworm caterpillars to turn into an adult butterfly. A beautifully woven cocoon of a silkworm is formed by a single silk thread, the length of which can reach one kilometer.

SILKMOTH AND MAN

A natural fiber called silk is also produced by many other types of insects, but only the silkworm produces enough of it. in large numbers and, in addition, it is of high quality, so the silkworm is profitable to breed in captivity. The ancient Chinese invented a way to unwind the fiber and turn it into a strong thread. The first silk products appeared from the cocoons of wild silkworms. However, soon the Chinese began to breed them in artificial conditions and sought to choose as large and heavy cocoons as possible for further breeding. As a result of such attempts, modern silkworms were bred, which are much larger than their wild ancestors. True, they do not know how to fly and are completely dependent on humans.

Silkworm cocoons are softened with hot steam, put in hot water, and then unwound at special factories, getting yarn. To make fabrics, the threads are always twisted several threads together because they are very thin.

LIFE CYCLE

The silkworm is currently not found in the wild. The ancient Chinese domesticated the silkworm 4,500 years ago. Since all this time a careful selection of individuals was carried out for their further breeding in captivity, the modern silkworm is much larger than its distant ancestor. Also, he is unable to fly. The caterpillar reaches its maximum dimensions six weeks after birth. Before the formation of a cocoon, she stops feeding, becomes restless, crawls back and forth in search of a convenient place to securely attach herself. Attached to the stem, the caterpillar begins to spin a silk cocoon. Silk fiber is a secretion of paired arachnoid glands, which are located in several longitudinal folds on the body of the caterpillar and reach its lower lip. When turning into a chrysalis, the caterpillar releases one whole thread up to 1 kilometer long, which it wraps around itself. Silkworm cocoons can be different color- yellowish, white, bluish, pink or greenish. After the transformation of the caterpillar into a chrysalis, the next stage begins - the transformation into an adult butterfly.

WHAT DOES IT FEED

Caterpillars should eat almost continuously. They feed on mulberry leaves, eating them at an incredible rate.

The caterpillar, born from an egg, has a length of 0.3 cm and weighs 0.0004 g, and after a while its length is already up to 8.5 cm, and its weight is 3.5 g. Sometimes the caterpillars also eat the leaves of other plants . However, observations have shown that caterpillars that are fed a mixed diet grow much more slowly, and the quality of the silk fiber they produce changes - the thread becomes thicker than that of caterpillars that were fed only mulberry leaves. Caterpillars grow up to 6 weeks, then they stop eating and spin a cocoon, inside which they turn into an imago (adult).

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Now cheap synthetic fabrics are very squeezed natural silk, and yet products from it, as before, remain popular.

As early as 4,000 years ago, silkworms were bred in China to produce silk. For a long time already, this moth and its larvae cannot exist without human help. Adult insects have completely lost the ability to fly, and caterpillars would rather die of starvation than crawl in search of suitable food. For more than 2,000 years, China has maintained a monopoly on sericulture. For any attempt to take out grena (silkworm egg laying), the death penalty threatened. There was an ancient caravan route, which was called “Great silk road". The fact is that silk fabrics were very much appreciated in the countries of Europe and the Middle East. And not only for the beauty of silk clothes. The most important thing is that in such clothes a person was less bothered by lice and fleas! That is why for many centuries the silk trade has been the main source of income for the people of China. In 552, the pilgrim monks managed to deliver the silkworm to Constantinople. Then Emperor Justinian issued a special order, which he ordered to engage in sericulture in Byzantine Empire. China's monopoly on silk has come to an end. IN Western Europe they began to breed silkworms in 1203-1204, when the Venetians, after the IV Crusade, brought silkworm gren to their homeland.

INTERESTING FACTS. DO YOU KNOW WHAT...

• The annual production of raw silk is about 45 thousand tons. The main producers are Japan and China, South Korea, Uzbekistan and India.
• According to legend, the silkworm came to Europe thanks to two monks who hid it in a reed.
• Legend tells that China lost its monopoly on silk production in 400 AD, when a Chinese princess married an Indian raja, leaving her country, secretly took silkworm eggs with her.
• Silk from silkworm threads is called "noble" silk.
• Silk yarn is made from the silk of the Chinese oak silkworm (Chinese oak saturnia).

LIFE CYCLE OF THE SILKMOTH

Eggs: the female lays up to 500 eggs per leaf and dies soon after.

Larvae, hatched from eggs, black, covered with hairs. Hatching time depends on temperature.

Caterpillar: during development, the larva molts several times until it is white and smooth, without eyelashes.

Cocoon: the caterpillar intensively feeds on leaves for 6 weeks, and then begins to look for a suitable twig. On it she spins a cocoon, from silk, with which she surrounds herself.

Adult silkworm: the butterfly mates shortly after emerging from the cocoon. The female secretes a special substance with a strong odor, which the male catches. By smell, with the help of special hairs on enlarged antennae, the male determines the location of the female.

WHERE Dwells

The silkworm is native to Asia. Nowadays, silkworms are grown in Japan and China. There are many farms in India, Turkey, Pakistan, as well as in France and Italy.

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION

The ancient Chinese domesticated the silkworm 4,500 years ago. Now the silkworm is bred on special farms.

Animals in history. Silkworm. Video (00:24:27)

MULBERRY SILKMOTH Grade 6. Video (00:02:42)

Silkworm mulberry as a business idea. Video (00:05:22)

The silkworm is a long-forgotten business, but nowadays it does not have much competition ... And silk, as before, has a high cost ...

Silkworm - This is interesting. Video (00:13:17)

Silkworm. Video (00:02:16)

Silkworm. Video (00:02:12)

How silkworm is grown. Video (00:09:53)

The life of a silkworm

Description

Relatively large butterfly with a wingspan of 40 - 60 mm. The color of the wings is off-white with more or less distinct brownish bands. Notched front fenders outer edge behind the top. The antennae of the male are strongly pectinate, the females are pectinate. Silkworm butterflies, in fact, have practically lost the ability to fly. Females are especially inactive. Butterflies have underdeveloped mouthparts and do not feed throughout their lives (aphagia).

Life cycle

The silkworm is represented by monovoltine (gives one generation a year), bivoltine (gives two generations a year) and polyvoltine (gives several generations a year) breeds.

Egg

After mating, the female lays eggs (500 to 700 on average), the so-called grena. Grena has an oval (elliptical) shape, flattened laterally, somewhat thicker at one pole; soon after its deposition, one depression appears on both flattened sides. At the thinner pole there is a rather significant depression, in the middle of which there is a tubercle, and in the center of it there is a hole - a micropyle, designed for the passage of the seed thread. The grain size is about 1 mm long and 0.5 mm wide, but it varies considerably depending on the breed. In general, breeds of European, Asia Minor, Central Asian and Persian give a larger gren than Chinese and Japanese. Egg laying can last up to three days. Diapause in the silkworm falls on the egg stage. Diapausing eggs develop in the spring of the following year, while non-diapausing eggs develop the same year.

Caterpillar

A caterpillar comes out of the egg (so-called silkworm), which grows rapidly and molts four times. After the caterpillar has gone through four molts, its body becomes slightly yellow. The caterpillar develops within 26 - 32 days. The duration of development depends on the temperature and humidity of the air, the quantity and quality of food, etc. The caterpillar feeds exclusively on mulberry (tree) leaves. Therefore, the spread of sericulture is associated with the places where the mulberry tree (mulberry) grows.

While pupating, the caterpillar weaves a cocoon, the shell of which consists of a continuous silk thread ranging in length from 300-900 meters to 1,500 m in the largest cocoons. In the cocoon, the caterpillar turns into a chrysalis. The color of the cocoon can be different: pinkish, greenish, yellow, etc. But for the needs of industry, only silkworm breeds with white cocoons are currently bred.

The release of butterflies from cocoons usually occurs on the 15-18th day after pupation. But the silkworm is not allowed to survive to this stage - the cocoons are kept for 2-2.5 hours at a temperature of about 100 ° C, which kills the caterpillar and simplifies the unwinding of the cocoon.

Human use

Sericulture

Sericulture- breeding of silkworms to obtain silk. According to Confucian texts, silk production using the silkworm began around the 27th century BC. e. , although archaeological research allows us to talk about the Yangshao period (5000 BC). In the first half of the 1st century A.D. e. sericulture came to ancient Khotan, and at the end of the 3rd century came to India. It was later introduced to Europe, the Mediterranean and other Asian countries. Sericulture has become important in a number of countries such as China, Republic of Korea, Japan, India, Brazil, Russia, Italy and France. Today, China and India are the two main producers of silk, accounting for about 60% of the world's annual production.

Other uses

In China and Korea, fried silkworm pupae are eaten.

Dried caterpillars infected with a fungus Beauveria bassiana used in Chinese traditional medicine.

Silkworm in art

• In 2004, the famous multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and leader of his own group Oleg Sakmarov wrote a song called "Silkworm".
• In 2006 Flëur released a song called "Silkworm".
• In 2007, Oleg Sakmarov released the album "Silkworm".
• In 2009, the Melnitsa group released the Wild Herbs album, on which a song called Silkworm sounds.

Notes

Categories:

• Animals alphabetically
• Animals described in 1758
• real silkworms
• farm animals
• Pets

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

See what "Mulberry silkworm" is in other dictionaries:

- (Votbuh mori), this butterfly. real silkworms (Bombycidae). Wingspan 40-60 mm, whitish. The body is massive. According to the number of generations per year, monovoltine (one), bivoltine (two), and polyvoltine (many) breeds of T. sh. Wintering... ... Biological encyclopedic dictionary

Silkworm, silkworm Dictionary of Russian synonyms. silkworm n., number of synonyms: 2 silkworm (2) ... Synonym dictionary

Butterfly of the true silkworm family. Not known in the wild; domesticated in China c. 3 thousand years BC e. to get silk. Bred in many countries, mainly in the East., Wed. and Yuzh. Asia. A close view of the wild silkworm lives in ... ... Big encyclopedic Dictionary

Butterfly. Caterpillar T. sh. called a silkworm, feeds on the leaves of the mulberry tree, curls a silk-rich cocoon, for the sake of getting a horn and gets divorced. Silkworm (: 21/2): 1 caterpillar; 2 dolls; 3 cocoon; 4 female laying eggs. ... ... Agricultural dictionary-reference book

Butterfly of the true silkworm family. Wingspan 4 6 cm, massive body. It feeds (caterpillar) on mulberry leaves. Not known in the wild; domesticated in China around 3000 BC. e. to get silk. Bred in many countries, ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Bombyx mori) butterfly of the family Bombycidae. Wingspan 4 6 cm; has an underdeveloped mouth apparatus and does not feed. Caterpillar G. sh. feeds on mulberry leaves (See Mulberry) (or mulberry tree); inferior substitutes for it ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Bombyx mori (silkworm, silk moth) silkworm, silkworm. Lepidoptera insect , one of the first domesticated species (domesticated in China over 4000 years ago as a producer of valuable silk fiber ... ... Molecular biology and genetics. Dictionary.

- (Bombyx s. Sericaria mori) a butterfly belonging to the silkworm family (Bombycidae) and bred for the silk that is obtained from its cocoons. The body of this butterfly is covered with dense fluff, the antennae are rather short, comb-like; wings are small... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron