noun

• 1The commercially bred caterpillar of the domesticated silk moth (Bombyx mori), which spins a silk cocoon that is processed to yield silk fibre.

  ‘The domesticated silkworm is one of a few lepidopteran species that have been used for genetic analysis.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Silk is a continuous protein filament spun by the silkworm to form its cocoon.’
  • ‘The silkworm is a lepidopteran insect with a long history of significant agricultural value.’
  • ‘Although this order represents an extremely diverse and economically important group of insects, mapping studies have been conducted only in the silkworm, Bombyx mori.’
  • ‘As is well known, the silkworm, Bombyx mori, is reared for the production of silk and its diet consists solely of mulberry leaves.’

  1. 1.1with modifier A commercial silk-yielding caterpillar of a saturniid moth.
     More example sentences

     • ‘Tussah silk, often called shantung, is made from the cocoons of wild tussah silkworms that eat oak and juniper leaves.’