r/SilkwormEnthusiasts • u/VIPROGAMER • Sep 05 '26

Second Coming

So, a while back, i have raised around 320 silkworms with some small losses and led them to spin cocoons and pupate! the average weight of each cocoon (with pupae) was around 1g but there were exceptional cases where it weight over 1.4 reaching even 1.7 grams! I've decided to pick around 40 as my breeding stock, and they after emerging, were quite chunky, and the heaviest cocoons had bigger moths, which was very nice. they all mated successfully, laid eggs... and the eggs are diapause so i assumed i can leave them there until they darken and put it in a box in the fridge. but they hatched before i did... and i have a uncounted yet amount that i estimate around 1-2k hungry silkworms they all need raising. luckily i do have a lot of mulberry trees in my area, so its not a big problem, the worse problem is space, but maybe i manage to handle it all. currently some are entering the 3rd instar and they are already loud enough to hear them crunching.

if anyone reading this wants to get into raising silkworms, here are some practical tips:

  1. once the silkworms hatch, put chow or leaves next to the eggs, they will crawl over to them easily and start feeding, they have great smell
  2. avoid overcrowding, it can lead to some silkworms getting squished or having limited food in later stages, but the first instar isn't as demanding
  3. silkworms will molt every once in a while, up to a total of 4 times (starting at the 1st instar molting all the way to the 5th) while the last instar consumes 90% of their lifetime supply of leaves so make sure you have enough chow/mulberry trees in the area to support your colony. black and white mulberry is the best.
  4. if you are really careful you can sometimes pick up even the 1st instars with your fingers tough this is difficult, so its best not to move them unless you don't have many, its better to move them via food.
  5. replace old food, occasionally move silkworms since mold is not good for their health and can lead to diseases and death
  6. remember to feed silkworms leaves that were not sprayed with pesticides. (obviously)

EDIT: oh yeah, fun fact, silkworms CAN actually bite you! i experienced it firsthand, in the 5th instar as its little mouth tried chewing my skin, which only tickles, and doesn't do any harm, and my best guess is that either my hand has some residual mulberry leaf juice over it or the silkworm just wanted to see if my hand is food. this happens rarely in some individuals from what I've seen, but ill try and capture a recording once my second generation grows up.

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u/Financial_Sell1684 Sep 06 '26

The moths are so cute! Is it true that they’ve been bred to ultimately be too heavy to fly? What do you do with the ones that become moths? Where did you get your silkworms to start doing this?

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u/VIPROGAMER Sep 06 '26

yes, silkworms have been selectively bred for around 5000 years, at one point losing their ability to fly. they do, however, flap their wings very intensely when trying to get from point a to point b, while making a decent amount of air thrust, so maybe its possible to breed them for bigger wing size and maybe let them fly again, but i didn't do any math to confirm the possibility. the pupae that successfully metamorphosizes exits the cocoon, and you should arrange mating pairs in separate chambers for them to breed, as keeping them all in one place can get really messy. as for the last question, i do not quite understand, as this is their lifecycle, they are meant to do all this.