Most moths and butterfly caterpillars can produce silk. The silk is produced from their salivary

glands to protect their transformation into adults.

In most species, the thread is too short to be of an commercial use- but the mulberry silk worm

spins a single thread up to 3900 feet in length!

It is this special talent which is valuable to man and has made the caterpillar vulnerable.

The silk is retrieved by softening the cocoon in hot water thereby killing the pupa inside.

The thread is unwound carefully to produce silk. Presently silk threads are drawn out without

killing the pupa. The threads are shorter in length and a little coarser than the other silk.

But this “ahimsa silk” will no make our conscience feel guilty for the large scale massacre of the

talented mulberry silkworms.