Members' Own

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23067, 18 June 1938, Page 8 (Supplement)

Members' Own

Dear Anne Shirley,—l will tell you about some -silkworms which we had some time, ago. About three to four years ago, we had quite a few silkworms and silkworm eggs,' but as, it is difficult to obtain the required food for them now, we no longer keep any. To breed silkworms, an empty shoe box, or a spacious box of any kind, is required to keep the caterpillars in. With a nail, a few holes should be punched in the box in order, to let in sufficient fresh air. Silkworms have an inclination to wander, so the holes must be rather small, to prevent the caterpillars from escaping. The eggs laid by the silkworm moth are no larger than a pin-head, so you can just imagine the original size, can't you, Anne Shirley? Generally it takes a considerable time before the eggs hatch, but once they hatch they grow with .amazing rapidity. Skin after skin is split, loaf after leaf off the mulberry

' Annie's Silkworms

tree is devoured, until finally the caterpillar decides to spin a cocoon. A suitable corner is chosen, and the grub begins its task by throwing silvery threads across from one side of the box to the other. In this manner, it continues to weave until the wall of silk threads is almost opaque, Being satisfied with the work already accomplished. the larva then begins to wrap itself with silk, and before long a cocoon stands before your eye. In this cosy state it spends a few weeks. At the end of the few weeks the silkworm appears in the form of a white moth. It. is not a pretty moth at all. Not possessing powers of boasting about a plain white moth. I will tell you of the final stages. After laving approximately 200 eggs the moth gives up its short life. In a few weeks' time the eggs hatch, and so the life cycle goes its rounds years after. Now I will close, with hope that you are wiser about silkworms. —From Annie Ah Chan. Thames'.