Raising silkworms is a fond memory of many of us as children. The growth cycle of silkworms is about 50 days, when the silkworm molts four times, and then eats about seven days of mulberry leaves, the silkworm body will become transparent and begin to spit silk as a cocoon.
Today we're going to talk about learning about silkworm silk.
First of all, the silkworm spit out, not silk thread, but silk liquid. When the silk liquid comes out of the silkworm's body, it becomes silk in contact with the air, and the silk is the fibrous substance formed by the mucus secreted by the silkworm.
Silkworms can spit silk because there is a silk-making system called silk glands in the silkworm body. The cocoon is not based on the size of the individual, but whether it has grown and matured.
The truth about silkworm silk is to detoxify and protect itself. Because the silkworm baby will eat a large number of mulberry leaves during the growth process, this will cause excess amino acids in its body to absorb and store. If the excess amino acids are not eliminated, the larvae will be poisoned and die before pupating.
Therefore, spitting silk is a way to detoxify in order to make yourself better alive.
In addition, if the silk is to expel excess amino acids from the body to avoid poisoning from the inside of the body, then spitting the silk into a circle to surround itself is to avoid poisoning from the outside.
Enclosing yourself in a cocoon shell can not only protect yourself from predators, but also safely become a silkworm pupae in the cocoon, and eventually feather into a silkworm moth.