Silk
We visited the silk factory and we were given a brief account about the silk-making and also a demonstration of making the silk comforter. Cocoons The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 meters (1,000 to 3,000 feet) long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous. Silkworm The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of the domesticated silkmoth. It is an important economic insect since it is the producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves. It is entirely dependent on humans for its reproduction and no longer occurs naturally in the wild. In China , there is a legend that the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress called Xi Ling-Shi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. She picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized that this caterpiller larva wa...