Housing extension
The silkworms are constantly growing and the number of trays grow with them. From one tray we went to have five.
It’s good to control the number of silkworms per tray, and that they are spread out as much as possible, keeping the space not too crowded. We don’t want the leaf layers to accumulate a lot, both for hygiene reasons (so that it doesn’t start to create moisture in the tray), but also for the worms to have easy access to fresh food. When we place fresh leaves on top, they will move in their direction, but the leaves better no be too far away, because they won’t move that far. So, it’s best if they can go directly from one layer to the other without much trouble.
The silkworm is a domesticated animal and it was developed during centuries not only to improve the quality of the silk produced, but also to make its rearing easier. This means that the animal has been bred to be docile and not very entrepreneurial. Silkworms, in this larval stage (when they start to cocoon its a different story), don’t leave the place where the food is, and they won’t move a great distance to find it either, so we need to assure they have it close to them.
In the same manner, the butterflies will not fly away and they have a very short lifespan, during which their only purpose is to reproduce, since they can’t even feed.
A few weeks ago, I read this post from Bryan, that lives in Japan and breeds his own silk moths, about how in the middle of his domesticated silkworms he found a few of the wild ones, and describes the behavior difference:
"(...) The silkworms this time around are not all behaving as they should. I noticed a few kuwako, the wild silkworms that occasionally come in on the mulberry from the field.
Then I noticed a few more. They walk around and stand on their simpler brothers and sister's heads and behave in other cheeky ways. Climbing up the walls and running across leaves. (...)".
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[29.04.2015 / This post refers to the investigation and activities developed during the Saber Fazer em Serralves program]
