Treasure hidden inside a bug; Silkworms
The silkworms and the miracle of silk fibers are almost ancient as the history of humans. This miracle was first realized in 2000 B.C in China and was kept a secret for centuries by China. And who could blame them for doing so ..?
So, since this was the situation, the silk bought from China for a long time was probably the first global trading network.
The name designation of this trading path that had reached from China to Europe in history was firstly done by the German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen, in 1877.
It not only caused the trade but also the cultures to be transferred from East to West and West to East. It, of course, cannot be compared to the opportunities of today's World but isn't civilization what humanity accumulates for centuries and passes on to the upcoming generations? This is I think why we have a great gratitude for the historical Silk Road and to the silk fibers and to the owners of this miracle, Silkworms.
My first meeting of silkworms of my short life of 39 years was on a summer vacation at my visit to my uncles who lived in a village.
A childhood memory; from a horrific fantasy fiction to miracle of nature
When I first arrived at the farmhouse in the village I went at the age of 10, the first thing I heard was a sweet-hard warning. My uncle told me that I could play with my cousins anyway we liked, we could contribute to everything including the care of the horses but stated clearly that we absolutely can not go into the place that doesn't quite look like a barn that was behind the bigger barn.
I wish curiosity would have never told me this, what was behind that door? Why was it forbidden? Day by day, curiosity was eating the inside of me like a worm... I was not going to give up. Maybe, I fantasized fearful scenarios inside my head with the effect of the movie Hitchcock. Were there a monster or was my uncle the murderer of the village!? Yes, he was a tough person, he wouldn't talk much but this wasn't enough to make him a murderer I suppose… ☺
One morning, I gathered up all my courage and entered that door. Moreover, that door I have been turning around for days was not even locked... I first smelt leaf and heard a slight rustling sound in that dark room and this filled me with fear. And when I switched the light on there were hundreds of leaves on the ground and on top of those leaves there were worms, thousands of them...
I suppose he was throwing the corpses here and these monster worms were eliminating them...
After maybe a few minutes have passed, I felt a hand touching my shoulder and fled there screaming, I didn't even look for who or what it was. I was able to reach home until the night. Everyone, of course, searched for me they went crazy.
And that night, after my uncle told me what happened, I felt really embarrassed both for my foolishness and the things I thought about my uncle. That was probably the stupidest behavior of my childhood...
This is how I first met with silkworms. My uncle was breeding silkworms for years, that is how I learned this.
Yes, though it isn't the same as their place in the history of humanity I think silkworms who have such a place in my short and independent history deserve some close recognition...
Silkworms; natural miracle that technology will be inspired by
The adventure starts with the silkworm moth laying its eggs on to the mulberry leaves. The mother is fulfilling its last duty here because it dies a few days after it lays the eggs.
The life cycle of the silkworms has 4 stages. Egg, larva, pupa, and adult.
Every silkworm moth lays around 300-400 eggs. And the caterpillar hatching from the eggs will start eating the mulberry leaves.
The caterpillar which changes skin 4 or 5 times during this process because of their increasing weight will become able to produce silk when they finally get mature enough.
The caterpillar climbing up the tree branches will hang themselves up with this liquid they excrete from their mouths and start to build cocoons...
Days lasting non-stop cocoon building...
They will build the Silk cocoon by staying inside it and drawing 8s non-stop with the juice they excrete for 3-4 days and finally, they will disappear inside it. This motion that they do with all their body while building the cocoon repeats approximately 130 thousand times, non-stop...
The silkworm which turns into pupa form in the 4th day of building the cocoon will get out by piercing the cocoon with the juice that's in Alkaline form after14 days of metamorphosis.
Short and shorter butterfly lifetime
The male that got out of the cocoon will die right after mating with the female. And the female will die in the few days after it after it lays eggs after searching for and finding the most optimal plant (mulberry leaves) to lay its eggs.
So, what is the thing that made silk valuable throughout history
The silk thread which gives life to elegant fabrics is the strongest thread known. These elegant goods of textile wold got itself the fame that it deserves. When we say silk, 2 examples come to my mind.
The first one is medicine, open wound, and surgical sutures; very strong and because of its protein structure, contributing to the healing of wounds.
The other one is, in Japan which might be one of the greatest silk market cultures, traditional kimonos are a nice product of silk.
Silk proteins:
The silkworm builds its cocoon with the liquid it excretes from the secretory glands in its mouth and when the time comes, it will get out of the cocoon using the same liquid. If you ask me how they are doing both the building and the destroying by using the same secretion; they are obtaining this difference by just changing the amount of water in the same protein's content.
Sericin
The sericin which wraps around the silk cocoon keeps the cocoon together.
One of the valuable amino acids obtained from the cocoons; Sericin:
With its hydroxy amino acid rich content and capacity of water binding, it is used in cosmetics for skincare. Anti-wrinkle and firming.
And for its feature of light distribution, it is used in protecting the skin from the harmful effects of the sun.
Technology, getting inspired by nature is an inevitable necessity. As science and technology analyze the nature, who knows what miraculous events will become the new building blocks of human civilization.
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Fantastic post! I don't know if people do this in other parts of the world but in a lot of schools in South Africa learners bring silk-worms to school. They either sell, buy or trade them. The children are also taught to cut shapes out of cardboard and allow the worms to then spin their silk over these forms (like hearts, faces, etc.).
Fascinating when you think how important silk was for the earliest trade routes and how valuable it was, too. Not only in terms of money but creating and establishing relationships between traders, people, of different races and beliefs.
Thank you for the educational post!
@rionpistorius