Silk is a natural fibre an animal protein like wool.
Almost the entire commercial silk industry, from its earliest origins in the Ancient Orient , is based on one insect, the silkworm. While not precisely a worm, the silkworm is actually one life stage of the flightless moth Bombyx Mori . This caterpillar produces the lustrous fibres when it changes into a chrysalis, spinning and wrapping its own body into a cocoon. Bombyx Mori requires human help to feed, and it is a picky eater indeed. Fresh, but slightly wilted mulberry leaves are its sole diet, and they must be unblemished or the silkworm will refuse them.