Three pair of short, jointed legs with a single claw at the tip are located on the three body segments immediately behind the head. An artificial diet has been developed to facilitate cultivation of silkworms. If you do not have a mulberry tree available, you must purchase the artificial diet. Habitat Today, the silkworm moth lives only in captivity. Silkworms have been domesticated so that they can no longer survive independently in nature, particularly since they have lost the ability to fly.
All wild populations are extinct, although presumably old relatives exist in Asia.
Interesting Behaviors Silkworms have been used by researchers to study pheromones or sexual attractant substances. The pheromones are released by female moths and the males detect the chemicals with olfactory hairs on their antennae. This allows the male to find the female for mating. The male antennae are made of many small hairs to increase the chances of picking up small amounts of the pheromones over long distances. Collecting Live Insects Where to find Silkworm eggs and artificial diet can be purchased from Carolina Biological Supply Company and Ward's Biology.