314 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



I' Ff ;the silk worm in its third and fourth age. 



The insect at this age is extremely interesting by watching how it voraciously de- 

 vours its food plant. You will notice there are mulberries among the leaves. The 

 caterpillars will eat the berries if they cannot find any leaves. 



rapidly. They now require more food 

 and small branches of mulberry should 

 be given four or five times daily. At 

 the end of each day branches of mul- 

 berry are placed over the worms, and 

 as soon as- the worms have all mounted 

 to the fresh food the branches with 

 the worms upon them are transferred 

 to an empty tray ; the tray containing 

 the old leaves should then be cleaned 

 and made ready for the next day's 

 transfer. 



The next or final molt is the most 

 critical and laborious, and should there 

 be any disease lurking in the worms it 

 will surely manifest itself at this time 

 After the worms have undergone this 

 molt they are in the fifth and last age. 

 Fresh food should be given constant'y 

 during this period, for in this age ihe 

 worms consume more food than dur- 

 ing the whole of their previous exist- 

 ence. 



PRECAUTIONS TO BE TAKEN DURING THE 

 LARVAL STAGE. 



Do not disturb the worms while in 

 molt. Never allow the sun's rays to 

 shine upon them. Guard against the 

 invasion of rats and mice ; they are the 



silkworms' worst enemies. Avoid 

 feeding" with stale, damp, or wet leaves. 

 Maintain if possible, an average tem- 

 perature of from 70 to 80° F. 



PREPARATIONS FOR COCOON BUILDING. 



At the end of eight days of voraci- 

 ous feeding after the final molt, the 

 worms begin to crawl over the leaves 

 without eating, shrink somewhat in 

 size, and change in color to a semi- 

 transparent white or yellow; they are 

 restless, rear their heads as if in search 

 of something to climb upon, and begin 

 to throw out threads of silk. When 

 these signs are noticed everything 

 should be prepared at once for the 

 spinning of the cocoons, in order that 

 the worms may not lose their strength 

 and silk in seeking for the support they 

 require. Branches of small twigs or 

 any clean, well-dried brush, free ii om 

 leaves, may be collected and made mto 

 small bunches, one end being tied and 

 the other allowed to spread out so that 

 the worms may mount and spin be- 

 tween the branches. Ladders such as 

 is shown in the accompanying photo- 

 graph, are sometimes used. Cornuco- 

 pias, sufficiently large to permit the 



