Silk

Silkworms and their favorite food, mulberry leaves.

Cocoons: The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 m (1,000 to 3,000 ft) long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 μm (0.0004 in) in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk (0.4 kg). At least 70 million pounds of raw silk are produced each year, requiring nearly 10 billion pounds of cocoons.

Links

• OSE Wiki Mulberry
• Wikipedia: Silk and "Bombyx mori"
• Appropedia "Silk Worm Raising"