New silkworm photos

I’m working on some new photography for www.wormspit.com

These are ultra-close images of little tiny silkworms. If you don’t like caterpillars

This is a one-day Kego, or hatchling silkworm. One site that I found translates the word Kego as “hairy baby” – you can certainly see why, once you get really up close!

For scale. That’s a dime.

Here’s some more shots of the same caterpillar, moving. He was on top of the dime, and since the metallic surface didn’t push his “tasty leaf” buttons, he was traveling to try to get back on the leaf. He kept doing this funny little dance, which is typical of the species – it’s a small circle, moving sideways very slightly. They really do have to have the food dropped literally on top of them, or they starve. I got the impression he was not that fond of the dime.

Same caterpillar, still looking for leaf.

Different caterpillar, on the chopped leaf.

Very, very close on the eggs. You can actually see the caterpillar curled within the egg in the middle; the head is upward. Just behind it at about 10 o’clock position, is another egg where you can see the back of the caterpillar facing you – the diagonal lines are the hairs on its back pressed inside the shell of the egg.

30 replies
  1. inyri_jax
    inyri_jax says:

    I love these photos! It’s all because of you that I am obsessed with silk, and silkworms. I think these guys are adorable!

    Thank you for sharing!

  2. inyri_jax
    inyri_jax says:

    I love these photos! It’s all because of you that I am obsessed with silk, and silkworms. I think these guys are adorable!

    Thank you for sharing!

  3. morganalilith
    morganalilith says:

    i’ve been in love with silk for about 25 years, and i’m so glad i stubled across your lj a couple of years ago (or however long it’s been).

    i’m also VERY impressed with your camera and macro skills. i struggle with macro, lol.

  4. morganalilith
    morganalilith says:

    i’ve been in love with silk for about 25 years, and i’m so glad i stubled across your lj a couple of years ago (or however long it’s been).

    i’m also VERY impressed with your camera and macro skills. i struggle with macro, lol.

  5. webwawa
    webwawa says:

    on some of the green veggie eating caterpillars,
    their little legs sometimes have juicy sucker like hands on them. there might be a small fuzz though..

    but the baby Swallowtail caterpillars are spiky too! i never had a good enough macro though to take a photo. I don’t have any baby yet this year, but my Mom has had a ton on these “rue” plants.. they seem to love it more than the Fennel or Parsley! I planted mor fennel to attract some egg laying at my house. 😉

    the baby swallowtails have more like smooth horns though instead of hairs. they totally dissapear when they grow out



    adult

  6. webwawa
    webwawa says:

    on some of the green veggie eating caterpillars,
    their little legs sometimes have juicy sucker like hands on them. there might be a small fuzz though..

    but the baby Swallowtail caterpillars are spiky too! i never had a good enough macro though to take a photo. I don’t have any baby yet this year, but my Mom has had a ton on these “rue” plants.. they seem to love it more than the Fennel or Parsley! I planted mor fennel to attract some egg laying at my house. 😉

    the baby swallowtails have more like smooth horns though instead of hairs. they totally dissapear when they grow out



    adult

  7. sharonthenurse
    sharonthenurse says:

    It’s amazing that you can start with a tiny little bug the size of grooves on a dime, and wind up with SILK! I wonder who ever thought of it first? Lessee, I think I’ll mess around with this worm slime and see if I can make a dress for the ball…

  8. sharonthenurse
    sharonthenurse says:

    It’s amazing that you can start with a tiny little bug the size of grooves on a dime, and wind up with SILK! I wonder who ever thought of it first? Lessee, I think I’ll mess around with this worm slime and see if I can make a dress for the ball…

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Security Code:

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.