Brinda, Ritika, Aleena, Sarika,RishabPristine Public School, Bangalore.

It is at this stage that the silk worm's life cycle ends if the cocoon is taken to make silk thread. The process involves plunging the cocoon into boiling water to kill the pupa and dissolve the glue that holds the cocoon together. The cocoon will be unwound, and the threads used to weave cloth.

If the pupa is allowed to continue its development, it will change from pupa to moth within the cocoon and emerge as an adult about two to three weeks after going inside the cocoon.

Silk is known to have natural healing properties, especially for burn injuries. This is the reasons that silk fabric is popular as a material for medical textiles. These items are recommended for the burn patients to feel comfortable and they also contribute towards natural healing.

Finally, raw silk fabrics are popular for designing innerwear, especially the range of women lingerie. These are purchased by married couples to add spiciness to their intimate moments. Night gowns made from silk for women as well as men too are popular in this direction. The only concerning aspect regarding silk fabrics is that it requires a great deal of care. You must learn the right tips to clean the silk clothes to keep them in good form for long.

Silk is widely used for designing bedding items like bed sheets, linens, blankets and pillow covers. These items add a great worth to one’s bedroom and let the people have the feeling of using luxurious bedding items. Likewise, one can find a huge variety of silk curtains in the market. These curtains are preferred in the bedrooms as well as living rooms to enhance the overall look of the place. Other home furnishing items like cushion covers and table clothes too are popular among homeowners who are deeply in love with silk fabrics.

Silk fabric is one of the most amazing things that we obtain directly from the nature. Since the time immemorial, different varieties of silk fabrics have been used by talented designers to serve for a number of purposes. Due to the superior quality and unusual luster, silk fabric is rightly counted among the most sought-after materials for the textile industry. SILK FABRIC

One of the most popular uses of raw silk fabrics is their use for making attractive designer dresses for women. Silk gowns are not only popular among women from the class of celebrities; these dresses are equally desired by common women. One good aspect of these dresses is that they are comfortable to wear during summers as well as winters.

RAW SILK FABRIC

Out of the numerous species of silk moths, scientists have enumerated about 70 silk moths which are of some economic value. But of these only a very few have commercial value. The four commercially known varieties of natural silk are (1) Mulberry silk (2) Tasar silk (3) Muga silk and (4) Eri silk. Although the bulk of world silk supply comes from the silk moth Bombyx Mori which is domesticated, the other varieties of silk are known as wild silk, as they are grown in remote forest trees in natural conditions.

Silk is very strong in terms of tensile strength, meaning it can withstand a lot of pulling type pressure without breaking. This should not, however, be confused with wear ability or abrasion resistance. Silk will not stand up to the heavy wear that other fibers will.

Silk can take on many different appearances. A raw silk fabric may fool you into thinking that it is cotton or synthetic. The more refined the silk and the smaller the yarn, the more it resembles the look and feel that we know as silky.

The burn test is the best way to be sure. Burning silk will leave a powdery ash and will extinguish itself when the flame is removed, just like wool. The easy way to tell silk and wool apart in the burn test is the smell. Where wool will have the smell of burning hair, the silk will have a much more disagreeable smell.

Silk - the most beautiful of all textile fibers is acclaimed as the queen of textiles. It comes from the cocoon of the silk worm and requires a great deal of handling and processing, which makes it one of the most expensive fibers also. Today China is the leading silk producer of the world. Other major silk producing countries include Japan, India and Italy.

Production of SilkCharacteristics of SilkIdentifying of SilkFour Varieties of Natural Silk

Production of Silk from Cocoon to FactorySericulture: The production of cocoon for their filament is called sericulture. The species Bombyx mori is usually cultivated and is raised under controlled condition of environment and nutrition. The life cycle of silk worm encircle in the four stages. The egg, the silk worm, the pupa and the moth. The silk worm which feeds on mulberry leaves forms a covering around it by secreting a protein like substance through its head.

 This stage is called cocoon, the desirable stage for the silk producers

1. EggsThe female silkworm moth will lay many tiny eggs on

mulberry leaves and from these leaves hatches the silkworm or caterpillar. In areas where the seasons change, the moth will generally lay the eggs in late summer or early fall, and the eggs will not hatch until spring.

The caterpillar or silkworm that emerges from the egg is only about an eighth of an inch long and covered in hair. The caterpillar feeds on the mulberry leaves, going through four separate molts as it matures toward the pupa stage. As it molts, the old skin is shed and a new, larger one is grown.

After the first molt, the silkworm loses its hairy exterior and remains smooth and soft throughout this stage of its life.

After the fourth molt in the larval stage, the caterpillar will spin a cocoon of silk thread around itself. The cocoon is about the size of a cotton ball. Inside the cocoon, the caterpillar becomes a pupa.

The silkworm moth has creamy white wings with brown patterns across the front. Today, there are no silkworm moths living naturally. In the four millennia since the silk industry began the species has become so domesticated that it can barely fly, find it own food or defend itself from predators.

Copulation between adult silkworm moths may last for several hours. Adult silkworm moths do not eat or drink, but mate and die after the female has laid her eggs.

A wide range of silk fabrics are produced at different production centers   both Handloom and Powerlooms. A brief account of the range of fabrics is furnished below, as is known by its popular names.

There is indeed a solution to this problem and the killing of Silkworms can be avoided.

Silk can also be made without killing the caterpillars. Eri silk or "peace silk" is made from the cocoons of Samia ricini, a type of silkworm who spins a cocoon with a tiny opening in the end. After metamorphosizing into moths, they crawl out of the opening. This type of silk cannot be reeled in the same way that Bombyx mori silk is reeled, and instead is carded and spun like wool. Eri silk represents a very small portion of the silk market.

Another type of silk is Ahimsa silk, which is made from the cocoons of Bombyx mori moths after the moths chew their way out of their cocoons. Because of the chewed-through strands, less of the silk is usable for textile production and Ahimsa silk costs more than conventional silk. "Ahimsa" is the Hindu word for "non-violence." Ahimsa silk, though popular with Jains, also represents a very small portion of the silk market.

In this way we can also get clothes and even the silkworm also would be safe and alive.

RITIKA SUBUDHI,SARIKA TEJASWINI, BRINDA RAMESH, ALEENA RAHAMAN, RISHAB ROBERT DAYAL