![]() The larvae have mandibles for feeding, while the adults have sucking mouth parts (Lepidoptera Part 2 1997). They do most of their eating in the larval stage (Encarta 1998). They feed specifically on white mulberry leaves, but also eat Osage oranges and lettuce. Also important in the mating ritual are the males' larger, more plumed bodies, which entice the females (Lepidoptera Part 2 1997). It is suggested that if a female's gland were to at once release all the pheromones, one trillion males would be attracted to her in an instant (Pines 1997). When females secrete their pheromones, males begin to do a "flutter dance." This helps males and females find each other. mori, there is a pheromone-secreting gland crucial to the species' mating ritual. ![]() mori have compound eyes and can hear both each other and other animals (Lepidoptera Part 2 1997). Because of their role in sericulture, the adults of the species can no longer fly (Herbison-Evans 1997). Behaviorīombyx mori are social creatures which can locomote. They are dramatically different form their larval stage (Lepidoptera Part 2 1997). The adults are winged and have traded body hair for scales. After this process is completed, the adults break free from the cocoon in order to begin the cycle again. This process, histolysis, clears away the old parts to make way for the new ones that will develop in this pupal state. Inside the cocoon, much of their bodies die by an attack of their own digestive juices. Bombyx mori spend 2 weeks as pupae in the safety of their cocoons before emerging as adults (Encarta 1998). This fluid hardens in the air to produce the silk thread that they will wrap around themselves to form their cocoons. Bombyx mori produce a fluid in their silk glands that is forces through spinnerets on their mouths. The larvae eat and grow for approximately 6 weeks, and then they begin the next stage of their lives. After 10 days, the eggs hatch and hungry larvae emerge. These eggs weigh in at a miniscule 1/30,000 of an ounce each (Knowledge Adventure 1997). The female adult dies upon depositing her eggs (Encarta 1998). mori (Savela 1998).īombyx mori are holometabolous and reproduce sexually. Another silkworm, Bombyx mandarina, appears to be a wild race of B. ![]() They are also buff-colored, but have thin brown lines on their whole bodies (Herbison-Evans 1997). ![]() The adults are moths with a 4 cm wingspan. They are buff-colored with brown thoracic markings. mori are caterpillars that are about 4 cm long, including their horned tail. mori is native to China, it does not live in the wild any longer because of sericulture (Encarta 1998). Though they are believed to no longer exist in the wild, they are in the care of the silk industry in Asia and Australia (Savela 1998).Īlthough B. Bombyx mori originally existed in the wild throughout Asia. ![]()
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