Mulberry Silkworm vs. Tussah Silkworm

Most people’s understanding of silkworms started from silk. With the improvement of living standards, silk clothing gradually entered the homes of ordinary people. Most real silk clothes are mulberry silk, and a very small part is woven from tussah silk. Mulberry silkworms are raised in houses or sheds at all ages, and are usually called domestic silkworms; While tussah silkworms can be raised in sheds except when very young, and other ages are raised on oak trees in the mountains, so they are also called wild silkworms.

Similarities between mulberry silkworm and tussah silkworm

Both the mulberry silkworm and the tussah silkworm are completely metamorphic insects.

They experience four stages of development with completely different morphologies and functions: eggs, larvae, pupae, and moths (adults). After a certain temperature and humidity, the eggs hatch into larvae (silkworms). After the silkworms are reared, they become cocoons and pupae, and the pupae turn into moths after a period of time. In these four developmental stages, only the larvae (silkworm) stage ingests food to provide body growth and developmental needs at various stages.

After 4 times of peeling (4 sleeps), 5 instars old mature and calluses. The small silkworms that have just hatched from the eggs are called ant silkworms. In the stage of larval development, the 1st to 3rd instar stage is the small silkworm (or juvenile silkworm) stage, and the 4th to 5th instar stage is the large silkworm (or strong silkworm) stage.

Whether it is a mulberry silkworm or a tussah silkworm, growth and development are inseparable from the surrounding environmental conditions. If the environmental conditions are suitable and the silkworm grows and develops normally, it can complete its life history. Environmental conditions include: feed, temperature, humidity, air and light, etc.

The difference between mulberry silkworm and tussah mulberry

• The feeding location is different. Mulberry silkworms spend indoors from hatching to cocooning. Mulberry silkworm farmers pick mulberry leaves from the mulberry garden and raise them at home, they are also called domestic silkworms. Tussah silkworms spend their lives on oak trees on the mountain from hatching to cocooning, so tussah silkworms are also called wild silkworms.
• The food is different. The mulberry silkworm eats mulberry leaves. Mulberry trees can be planted on the plains. The main feed for tussah silkworms is oak trees, which generally grow in mountainous areas.
• The number of feedings in a year is different. Henan Province can raise mulberry silkworms 4 times a year, while some southern provinces can raise mulberry silkworms 7-8 times; Henan only raises tussah silkworms once a year, in some areas of Shandong and Northeast China, it is raised twice a year.
• The morphology of silkworms is different in their developmental stages. The eggs, larvae, cocoons, pupae and adults of the mulberry silkworm are smaller than those of the tussah silkworm. The color of tussah silkworm eggs is grayish white or light gray, but they are brown or dark brown because they are adhered to the surface of the egg shell by the brown mucus secreted by the mucous glands when they are laid. Because of the different species of mulberry silkworms, their eggs have different colors, such as gray-green, gray-purple, brown or light brown. The mulberry silkworm larvae become bluish-white after the 2nd instar, and the tussah silkworm becomes light yellow after the 2nd instar. The pupa of mulberry silkworm is light yellow-brown, and the pupa of tussah is yellow-brown to black-brown. The adult worm (moth) of the mulberry silkworm is small and white, while the adult worm (moth) of the tussah silkworm is yellow-brown, with mottling on the wings.
• The form of overwintering is different. The mulberry silkworm is overwintered with eggs. In the second spring, put the mulberry silkworm eggs in a moderate temperature environment and let them slowly hatch into ant silkworms. This process is called invigorating green; while the tussah silkworms overwinter with pupae, in the second year’s spring, the house where the tussah cocoons are placed is heated first, and the pupae in the cocoons begin to develop into moths at a suitable temperature. This process is called warm cocoons.
• The feeding method is different. Before raising mulberry silkworms, silkworm chambers and silkworm tools must be prepared. In the breeding process, the mulberries should be continuously fed, expanded, sanded, and greened in batches. Tussah silkworms are directly placed in a fixed ant farm. As the growth and development stages of the tussah silkworms are different, the tussah silkworms are separated. Move to different silkworm slopes to raise, and the raising process includes moving silkworms, spreading silkworms, and even silkworms.
• The cocooning place is different. When the mulberry silkworms are about to form cocoons, the mulberry silkworm farmers must prepare a batch of silkworm clusters for the silkworms to form cocoons. There are many types of silkworm clusters: centipede clusters, grass clusters, square clusters, etc. The mulberry silkworm climbed up the cluster, found a suitable position and began to form cocoons. Tussah silkworms form cocoons directly on the tussah trees in the mountain cocoon field. When picking the cocoons, the silkworm farmers go up the mountain to cut off the cocooned oak twigs and load the baskets to the bottom of the mountain to peel off the cocoons.
• The color of the cocoons is different. Mulberry cocoons are small and white, and the extracted silk fibers are white and thin. They are more suitable for processing into silk garments, silk sheets, and silk pillowcases; Tussah cocoons are larger and light brown, and silk fibers are thicker and yellowish in color, which are more suitable as process material.