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Morus alba, known as white mulberry, common mulberry and silkworm mulberry, [2] is a fast-growing, small to medium-sized mulberry tree which grows to 10–20 m (33–66 ft) tall. It is generally a short-lived tree with a lifespan comparable to that of humans, although there are some specimens known to be more than 250 years old. [ 3 ]
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth is the most widely used and intensively studied silkworm. This species of silkmoth is no longer found in the wild as they have been modified through selective ...
Bombyx is the genus of true silk moths or mulberry silk moths of the family Bombycidae, also known as silkworms, which are the larvae or caterpillars of silk moths. The genus was erected as a subgenus [ 2 ] by Carl Linnaeus in his 10th edition of Systema Naturae (1758).
Silkworms and mulberry leaves placed on trays (Liang Kai's Sericulture c. 13th century) Silkworms were first domesticated in China more than 5,000 years ago. [28] [29] Pupae Silkworm cocoons weighed and sorted (Liang Kai's Sericulture) Silkworm breeding is aimed at the overall improvement of silkworms from a commercial point of view.
Conceivably, today's domestic silk moths are all descended from an initial stock of B. mandarina collected as far back as 5,000 years ago. [1] While wild silk could have been collected and used as threads, etc., since much earlier, the technology to breed and use silkworms from a domesticated stock did not exist before the late Neolithic.
The Ancient Greeks and Romans cultivated the mulberry for silkworms; at least as early as 220 AD, Emperor Elagabalus wore a silk robe. [32] English clergy wore silk vestments from about 1500 onwards. [32] Mulberry and the silk industry played a role in colonial Virginia. [32]
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Morus rubra, commonly known as the red mulberry, is a species of mulberry native to eastern and central North America. It is found from Ontario , Minnesota , and Vermont south to southern Florida , and west as far as southeastern South Dakota , Nebraska , Kansas , and central Texas .