Our little Bombyx Mori a few days before spinning.Ever wondered where all the silk in GJ batts comes from? It's the hardened saliva of a caterpillar just like this one.
Several weeks ago H came home from work with a tiny box filled with what appeared to the naked eye to be some vegetation and not much else, but closer inspection revealed a tiny caterpillar, about the size of a grain of rice, busily turning a leaf into lace. A colleague's kids were raising a group of them as pets and H, knowing my fascination with all forms of natural fibre, thought I should have a little monster of my own.
Several weeks ago H came home from work with a tiny box filled with what appeared to the naked eye to be some vegetation and not much else, but closer inspection revealed a tiny caterpillar, about the size of a grain of rice, busily turning a leaf into lace. A colleague's kids were raising a group of them as pets and H, knowing my fascination with all forms of natural fibre, thought I should have a little monster of my own.
exterminate, Exterminate, EXTERMINATE!Over the weeks the very hungry caterpillar munched its way through seemingly endless mulberry leaves, pausing only intermittently to shed its skin. Then, a few days ago, the long anticipated moment came when the eating stopped and a now rather large caterpillar began wandering drunkenly in circles around its box, leaving behind silvery threads of silk. Over an evening the threads began to take form into a beautiful, golden cocoon and now we wait while our little bombyx transforms itself into a moth.
Bombyx snug in its cocoon.
I never realised the cocoon would be such a beautiful, pearlescent gold.
Ooooh, look at that silk. :)
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment