Tambayan ng Kaalaman Tungkol sa Pilipinas
CLSU’s Mulberry trees and silkworms
The Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in Munoz, Neuva Ecija hs launched its own sericulture project.
Supervised by Filomena F. Campos, CLSU director of research, the project complements research being undertaken by the Philippine Textile Research Institute and U.P. Los Banos. At CLSU, concentration is on mulberry production and silkworm culture. At UP Los Banos, the stress is on breeding work.
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almost resist complete unwinding. Depending on sex and species, the cocoons measure from one to 1.5 inches long and 0.5 to one inch in diameter.
Harvested cocoons are sorted; all thin-shelled and unreelable ones are artificially heated overnight at 86 degrees centrigrade to kill the pupae.
A dried cocoon produces a light throbbing sound when shaken and weighs only half of the 2.5 gram weight of a fresh cocoon.
Sericulture in the Philippines
By Loreto H. Matienzo, Jr. and Rizal A. Gatica
Silk, the cloth of royalty, represents luxury in textiles. But this “most beautiful of all fabrics” is spun by no human hand. Silk threads or filaments are produced by silkworms when they construct cocoons that encase their pupae – a stage in the metamorphosis of caterpillars into moths. Weaving enough silk cloth to make one dress would require unraveling 1,700 to 2,000 cocoons.