CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Tips on raising silkworms: from one to five years old (Notes on raising one-year-old silkworms)

1. Everyone, how can we accurately tell how old a silkworm is?

How to identify the silkworm's age:

1st instar: Whole body black, 3-5 mm long.

2nd instar: The upper body of some silkworms turns grayish white, and the color of the tail becomes lighter.

Age 3: All white.

Age 4: Fat, 4-5 cm long.

Instar 5: It will start to spin silk and make cocoons when it grows to 6-7 cm. Before spinning silk, its poop will turn leaf green and be relatively soft. Its body is translucent and it does not eat many mulberry leaves.

2. How to determine the specific stage of the silkworm's age?

1. First-instar silkworms (four to five days old), are black in color and are about four to five millimeters long;

2. Second-instar silkworms (three to four days old), the upper body of the silkworm is grayish white;

3. At the third instar (four days), the whole body turns white;

4. The fourth instar silkworm (six days) has a grayish-white body and becomes larger and fatter;

5. The body of the fifth-instar silkworm (seven to nine days) becomes translucent and changes from dark green to leaf green. The appetite decreases and the amount of mulberry food eaten decreases.

6. The age of silkworms, also known as the age period, indicates that the silkworms are in a certain stage of development. The first age is from the ant silkworm to the first molting; the second age is after waking up from sleep; the third age is after molting again; the fourth age is after the third molting; the fourth molting is also called the big sleep, and the fifth age is after the big sleep. The fifth-instar silkworms grow very fast, and their body length can reach 6-7cm. Silkworms are metamorphosis insects, and the most common one is the mulberry silkworm, also known as the silkworm, which is one of the economic insects that spin silk and cocoon with mulberry leaves as food. The mulberry silkworm originated in China, and its development temperature is 7-40℃, and the suitable temperature for breeding is 20-30℃. The life of the silkworm goes through silkworm eggs, ant silkworms, mature silkworms, silk cocoons, and silkworm moths, a total of more than 50 days. The development process of the silkworm goes through four stages: fertilized eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults, and there are obvious differences between larvae and adults in morphological structure and living habits. Such a development process is called complete metamorphosis.

3. Introduction to the four stages of a silkworm’s life?

The life cycle of a silkworm consists of four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult.

Silkworm eggs:

Silkworms reproduce by laying eggs. Silkworm eggs look like fine sesame seeds, about 1 mm wide and 0.5 mm thick. A female moth can lay 400 to 500 silkworm eggs. 1700 to 2000 silkworm eggs weigh about 1 gram and have a diameter of 0.2 cm. The color of silkworm eggs is light yellow or yellow when they are first laid, and changes to light red bean color or red bean color after 1 to 2 days, and then turns to gray-green or purple after 3 to 4 days. It no longer changes and is called a fixed color.

The outer layer of the silkworm egg is a hard eggshell, and inside is yolk and serous membrane. The embryo in the fertilized egg continuously absorbs nutrients during the development process and gradually develops into a silkworm. It crawls out of the eggshell, and the eggshell becomes white or light yellow after it is empty.

The first instar is four to five days; the second instar is three to four days; the third instar is four days; the fourth instar is six days; the fifth instar is seven to nine days; the pupal stage is fourteen to eighteen days; and the moth stage is three to five days.

larva:

When the silkworm hatches from the egg, its body is brown or black, very small, and covered with fine hairs, and it looks a bit like an ant, so it is called ant silkworm. The ant silkworm is about 2 mm long and 0.5 mm wide. After it crawls out of the egg shell, it will eat mulberry leaves after 2 to 3 hours.

silkworm chrysalis:

After the silkworms spin cocoons on the cocoon nest, they will turn into pupae after about 4 days. The body shape of the silkworm pupa is like a spindle, with three body sections: head, thorax and abdomen. The head is very small, with compound eyes and antennae; the thorax has thoracic legs and wings; the bulging abdomen has 9 body segments. Professional workers can distinguish the sex of silkworms from the lines and brown dots on the abdomen of the silkworm pupa. When the silkworms first pupate, their body color is light yellow and the pupa body is tender and soft. Gradually, it will turn into yellow, yellow-brown or brown, and the pupa skin will also harden. After about 12 to 15 days, when the pupa body begins to soften again and the pupa skin is a little wrinkled and earthy brown, it will turn into a moth.

4. How long does it take for a 1st-instar silkworm to grow into a 5th-instar silkworm?

1. Hatching of silkworm eggs: After 8 to 9 days of accelerator period, silkworm babies hatch from silkworm eggs. The newly emerged silkworms are small and black, commonly known as ant silkworms.

2. First instar: The color of first instar silkworms changes from black to dark brown. They feed on mulberry leaves for 3 to 4 days and do not eat much. They will shed their skin for the first time after entering the dormant period, which lasts for 8 to 12 hours.

3. Second instar: The silkworm grows noticeably bigger and becomes lighter in color. It feeds on mulberry leaves for about 3 days and sleeps for 8 to 12 hours.

4. Third instar: The color of the silkworm body changes to light brown, the appetite begins to increase, and it enters the dormant stage after about 4 days. Silkworms from 1 to 3 instars are generally called young silkworms, and enter the adult stage after 10 to 14 hours.

5. Fourth instar: The silkworms entering the adult silkworm stage develop very quickly and their food intake increases significantly. The fourth instar usually lasts for 5 days, with a long dormancy period, generally called the long dormancy period, which can last up to 30 to 40 hours.

6. Fifth instar: The silkworms eat the most leaves during the first 7 days. The silkworms eat more than 75% of the total leaves. After the 7th day, the silkworms begin to shorten and become brighter. They are called mature silkworms. They stop eating and start spinning silk cocoons.

5. How to tell the age of silkworms?

, One instar (four to five days): The whole body is black and about four or five millimeters long.

2. Second instar (three to four days): The upper body of the silkworm is grayish white.

3. Third instar (four days): The whole body turns white.

4. Fourth age (six days): The body turns grayish white and becomes larger and fatter.

5. Fifth age (seven to nine days): The body becomes translucent and changes from dark green to leaf green. The appetite decreases and the amount of mulberry food eaten decreases.

Additional information:

Precautions for preventing diseases in silkworm breeding:

1. Prevent bacterial diseases: First, select mulberry leaves carefully and avoid picking leaves contaminated by insect feces. Secondly, prevent mulberry leaves from spoiling. Do not pick mulberry leaves covered with dew. Avoid picking mulberry leaves during the high temperature period at noon. Pick mulberry leaves lightly, pack them loosely and transport them quickly. Pour out the picked mulberry leaves and shake them loose. Cover them with a wet cloth instead of plastic cloth.

2. Prevention of midgut abscess disease: For silkworm farmers who raise silkworms on the ground, the humidity in the shed should be well controlled. The ground should be hardened as much as possible, and if it is not hardened, the ground film should be fully covered to prevent the ground from "returning damp" and increasing the humidity in the shed.

6. What are the five instars of silkworms?

1. The length of silkworms in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth instars: The length of the first instar silkworm is about 2-7 mm, the length of the second instar silkworm is about 8-12 mm, the length of the third instar silkworm is about 12-19 mm, the length of the fourth instar silkworm is about 19-25 mm, and the growth rate of the fifth instar silkworm is extremely fast, and the length can reach 6 to 7 cm.

2. A silkworm goes through four stages in its life: eggs, larvae, pupae and moths. It has four sleep periods and sheds its skin four times. The time interval between each shed is called "instar".

3. The fourth molting of the silkworm is also called the long sleep, and then it enters the fifth instar. The fifth-instar silkworm grows extremely fast. Not only will its body length increase significantly, but its weight will also increase rapidly. Its weight at the fifth instar can reach about 10,000 times the weight of an ant silkworm.

7. How to raise silkworms from 1 to 5 years old?

When silkworms are just hatched, you can feed some tender mulberry leaves to the first-stage silkworms, but only a small amount. As they molt each time and become second-, third- and fourth-stage silkworms, they eat more and more. So you need to feed them frequently so that they can grow stronger and faster. After the fifth-stage silkworms, their bodies begin to become transparent, and they are ready to spin silk and make cocoons. At this time, their food intake is significantly reduced, so you need to pay attention to cleanliness and move the silkworms that are about to spin silk to the cocoon grid or other cocoon-making places to let them spin silk and make cocoons.

8. How long does each age of silkworms last?

1. Hatching of silkworm eggs: After 8 to 9 days of accelerator period, silkworm babies hatch from silkworm eggs. The newly emerged silkworms are small and black, commonly known as ant silkworms.

2. First instar: The color of first instar silkworms changes from black to dark brown. They feed on mulberry leaves for 3 to 4 days and do not eat much. They will shed their skin for the first time after entering the dormant period, which lasts for 8 to 12 hours.

3. Second instar: The silkworm grows noticeably bigger and becomes lighter in color. It feeds on mulberry leaves for about 3 days and sleeps for 8 to 12 hours.

4. Third instar: The color of the silkworm body changes to light brown, the appetite begins to increase, and it enters the dormant stage after about 4 days. Silkworms from 1 to 3 instars are generally called young silkworms, and enter the adult stage after 10 to 14 hours.

5. Fourth instar: The silkworms entering the adult silkworm stage develop very quickly and their food intake increases significantly. The fourth instar usually lasts for 5 days, with a long dormancy period, generally called the long dormancy period, which can last up to 30 to 40 hours.

6. Fifth instar: The silkworms eat the most leaves during the first 7 days. The silkworms eat more than 75% of the total leaves. After the 7th day, the silkworms begin to shorten and become brighter. They are called mature silkworms. They stop eating and start spinning silk cocoons.

9. What stages does a silkworm go through in its life? What are the characteristics of its development?

There are four stages in the hatching of silkworm eggs: After 8-9 days of incubation, the larvae hatch from the eggs and are called silkworm ants.

First instar: Lasts 3-4 days. At this time, the silkworms eat less and their color changes from black to dark brown.

Second instar: Lasts for 3 days. At this time, the silkworm's body color becomes lighter and it has grown significantly larger.

Third instar: The silkworm's food intake increases and its color turns light brown.

Fourth instar: Entering the adult silkworm stage, which lasts about 5 days. At this time, the silkworm's body develops faster.

Fifth instar: Food intake reaches its peak, and the silkworms become mature and spin silk to make cocoons.