I love the legend behind how silkworm cultivation began: Thousands of years ago, the Empress of China was enjoying tea in her garden when a silkworm cocoon fell into her tea. The heat of the tea unraveled the cocoon, allowing the silk to be collected. The rest is history! 🤗
Yeah,I heard the story.Fun fact:Silk was not introduced to the outside world for nearly 3000! years.If somebody tried to,they were sentenced to death.But some people kept trying and succeeded in the 1700s. Edit:Guys,I love you!❤
It's like someone bottled the excitement a school class gets when the teacher wheeled in that ancient TV and put it into each Deep Look video. Can't thank you guys enough for making learning my favorite hobby. Amazing job.
My question is did your teacher turn off the lights? When ours did that before putting on the magic school bus I swear I was teleported to a different universe
As a kid growing up in Japan, we called silk worms (kaiko in Japanese) as Kaiko-Sama. We use -sama as a way to address those whom we revere or regard highly of, such as divine entities and honorable people. I think ancient people started calling the silk worms with an elevated address to show gratitude to the silk moths and worms. It’s a curious relationship, and I’m sure they were aware of it - to harvest unbroken silk, they had to boil them, which is a cruel practice; for the precious silk obtained in exchange for their lives, they showed reverence and gratitude to them.
I said that to one of my friends once coz she told me that moths are scary. I was like "whaattt they're cute and cuddly-" and the look on her face was priceless 💀
the thing i loved the most is how PBS never tries to hide or sugarcoat things like we're killing thousands of moths for silk, and still are able to tell why they are useful for us from an objective point of view. Thats how it should be, great vid 🙌 Also great shots as always!!! Loved the timelapse with the worms and the coin
Yes, it's fantastic that they're honest about the fact that we boil them alive to steal their silk, and that we have genetically modified them ti give them all disabilities to the point where they can barely move. It's all very important information that more people should know. It certainly is an effective deterrent for funding this cruel and unnecessary industry. I certainly will never buy silk again. Thanks DeepLook.
tbf, in the wild most would die or be eaten as well. We obviously have to keep enough to make sure the population stays the same every generation so we don't fall behind on silk. In the wild predation keeps the population stable.
Now I don't know what would become of the pupae once they've been boiled in an industrial silk manufaturing setting, but in small-scale silk manufacturers in Vietnam they would be stir-fried with spices and chopped lime leaves to be served as a delicacy. I believe elsewhere around Asia silkworm pupae would also be consumed as human food, which IMO is a great way to prevent these protein-rich resources from going to waste
From googling around, I found out that the silkworms are too small, and after boiling, they would become moist. And not to mention about their uncleaned innards. So they won't be really tasty to eat. That being said, they might still be used as chicken feed (this part is just my idea).
@@renseiryuu Tbf, the innards only comprise of mulberry leaves' digested remains, so it's relatively "clean" - not like you'd be dealing with rotting insect corpses in their guts anyway. And of course they wouldn't be eaten straight after boiling - I don't think anyone would want to eat that kind of squishy and bland bugs. In my experience, they would be stir-fried or roasted with seasoning until dry - by then they would have a powdery and savory texture. A spoonful scoop of these into your bowl of rice, and you have a delicacy. Additionally, there's an option to roast the boiled pupae until they get charred black; this would give them a different bitter taste, but is not recommended (as it doesn't taste very well, on top of being carcinogenic)
@@renseiryuu Yes, basically that (now that you meantion it, yeah. Stir-frying some soggy-wet pupae is going to result in an oil splash festival), but the selection of spices, as well as the purpose of the dish (snack, side dish, etc.) differs country by country.
After Lesley said two to three days straight, starting at 02:33 i imagine it took the camera at least 2 days to record the process, not to mention the whole process to make this video. Deep Look's dedication in making all of their original contents
These moths are pretty cute! And gosh, so industrious-three days of spinning silk! I suppose it does make sense that humans bred them to be unable to fly, given that makes them much more manageable than a moth that can fly away.
There is also another method of making silk that's cruelty free, called Ahimsa. Instead of boiling the larvae they let them emerge from their cocoons and then harvest the silk after.
it should have been mentioned :/ bc at 3:11 she said that once the cocoon breaks, so does the thread. edit: i would love a cruelty free alternative so if this is true, then i would look into it further. thank you
There are some companies which produce silk that do not kill the moths in the process, but the downside is that, as Lesley says in the video, the moths chew their way out of the silk cocoons, so this breaks the thread which means they can only produce shorter lengths of silk, which fetches a lower price. It's also worth noting that, as the video says, once they hatch, the moths only have a few days to live anyway. What's more, in the wild, the vast majority of these moths also wouldn't make it, being eaten by predators. The dead moths also don't go to waste; they're turned into fertilizer or animal feed. So, at the end of the day, if you still prefer your silk from a source that doesn't involve killing the silkworms, there are options available so go for them. :) But in the bigger picture, the moths were always destined to die anyway, and their deaths are usually quite quick. They also live carefree lives with plenty of food and no predators, probably in better settings than most of our domesticated animals that we rear for food.
I don't think you should be sad about it because we eat animals all the time, a lot of the times the pupae gets eaten much like cows, pigs, chicken and lamb. And besides, the adult silk moths don't typically live that long
@godzillapoggers9416 We have no way to know that. Yes, their nervous system is less centralised, but then you also have basically two brains (your two hemispheres, they're potentially veery independent from one another), yet you experience unity and identify yourself with a single entity.
Most species of moth have no mouths when they change into their adult form. That's why they only live for a few days. At that point in the life cycle the mouth is useless, the moth only needs to breed and then lay the eggs (if it's a female)
@@yolomayans1655 right, it think it's all evolutionary, and part of the food chain balance. If adult moths don't eat, they arnt taking away resources for the next generation, and all the dead moths then go on to feed other animals that finds the body.
They are, many cultures that harvest the silk eat the cooked pupa afterwords. Which is great since they are not wasted and only killed for the silk. At least in death their bodies are also used.
I had silkworms as pets when I was a nine year old child. It was amazing watching the silkworms weave their silk thread that made the cocoons. I had to gather leaves to feed them, but nobody knew how to make silk from the cocoons. The silkworms were beautiful and, smooth as velour.
I remember learning about the Silk Road in middle school and how silk was made. When the teacher said the cocoons get boiled to harvest the silk, I asked what happen to the worm. The teacher gave a sad sigh, and I was like: “…oh” Still makes me sad, but I learned in this video that silk is used in surgery so I’m iffy about the practice.
I'm honestly surprised at how low the number of silkworms needed for the amount of silk to create just one dress. I thought it would be WAY more than that.
I was actually surprised by that as well. I was expecting far far more. A testament to how much thread can be harvested from that amount. I think the moths are bred in the hundreds of thousands anyway
Silk worms are also used as a healthy alternative to stinky crickets when feeding reptiles and other insectivores. We raised the caterpillars all the time growing up for our pet bearded dragons.
@@grimaffiliations3671 We raise cows to feed us, and in the process made them a shadow of their mighty ancestors, the auroch. This is more humane than the cattle industry because the life of an adult silk moth is measured in days, less if they get eaten
@@KQEDDeepLook Yes we do . During those time I'm the only one in my class to even successfully grow them into adulthood and causing my biology teacher headache . Because she did not expect any worms will stay alive by our hands not to mention I even have like 5 to 6 pair of couples . So , she was shocked by me the day I took a big insect cage to school and it was full of eggs .
Silkworm: **Builds a cocoon using silk** Human: Yo, can I use your silk to make some swag clothing? Silkworm: Wait what? No. Human: Yay. *Takes silk* Silkmoth: HEY! GET BACK HERE! **Struggles to fly because of its small wings**
Compared to the adults the caterpillars ready to cocoon are very long (I saw some during Entomology classes) also to the touch they are almost velvet-y, so cute! :)
I met a silk moth once. I was working in an office with a Lab in Bristol CT USA. I went to let it outside and it just stayed on my hand, letting the breeze run through its antennae. It was the cutest friendly creature. I wish they were everywhere. Wonder how it ended up there if they can't fly.
I remember these fascinating creatures thanks to them being a school assignment of mine long ago!! That moth looks amazing and silk is incredible material, and I had no idea people changed the silk moth!!
They're sort of fun to breed. Gave it a go to feed some of my insectivorian animals. Not having a stable source of their only food, Mulberry leaves, I now leave it to the experts.
And we've done it like what 30 times in a row too? We've got domestic goats aurochses, mouflons, geese, silkworms, honey bees, carps, foxes, rats, rabbits, canaries, pigs, apples, pears, watermelons, wheat potatoes, maize, yeasts and more. All of these have been thoroughly modified by our cultivation of them. That is one thing I don't like about the sort of conclusion this author draws at the end of the video, I feel given that we basically created or at the very least heavily shape the biology of all these organisms.. as a species we really should feel responsible for them instead of simply wanting to throw them away. That's not to say that production ofthat's not to say that production ofthat's not to say that production of their products cannot be made more efficient or more ethical but... Like we will come to regret if we just abandon these sorts of creatures to die. I mean the european colonizers basically did so with the Domestic Peccary and the Wool Dog and now those resources those genes, those snuggles that wool, that meat, those behaviors perhaps unique are flat out gone for no one to learn from any longer. The albeit the destruction of unique domestic organisms I think was much less intentional than the destruction of the natives so it's a little bit harder for me to be mad at that. I mean the turkey, peppers, maize, llamas and more did get preserved and brought worldwide at least?
@@thomasneal9291 Please elaborate on how we have tens of thousands of domesticated species, where are all these extras that I'm not aware of? Are they hiding in your back cupboard or something, have they gone extinct?
Oh damn. I always thought you collect the cocoons after the moths chewed their way out and you spin it like wool/cotton - didn't realize you need continuous, unbroken threads. 😕
Probably for maximum yield/efficiency not a necessity. Shorter fibers could work(disclaimer: I don't sew), but would be harder to do, so they boil them alive as a shortcut... 😕
Cameraman here. Thank you! I used a Laowa probe and a bunch of DIY motion control equipment. Here's a video of the setup: ua-cam.com/users/shortsJWi9wD4Sb3U
no, and isnt it our fault that we shortened their lifespan by like half a year, took away their camo and made them fat and more disabled than stephen hawking?
I really hope we humans find a way to make artificial silk or any other animal products from scratch, twice the effectiveness of their natural counterparts. It is kinda sad that some animals wouldn't survive without our intervention.
There are synthetic alternatives to natural fibers. But the thing is the Properties aren't the same as from the natural fibres. Also if we would only rely on the synthetic alternatives it's not a long term solution since the material is not always Recyclable (depending on how it's produced and what other fibres were mixed together)
Oh no, I used to take care of silkworms in my 2nd-grade class. We used to cradle them and play with them, until their last days. I loved them so much and I had just learned about their tragic backstories last week.
I don’t like many bugs, but moths are an exception. They’re so fluffy and cute, and seeing them in close up is even better! Thank you for this interesting and wonderful video, Deep Look!
I “hate” them cause when ever I’m around one they fly straight to me and I do not like flying insects and most of the moths where I live can get like the size of my head
So I have an EXTREME phobia of moths. Like hit the floor and crawl away if it comes near me extreme. That being said the tale of the domestic silk moth actually made me kinda sad. I hope this practice can end someday when we figure out how to replace it with an artificial process.
So many commenters feeling bad for the moths, but you have to keep in mind that they spend the majority of their lives as caterpillars gorging themselves. Did you not hear the part about the adults having only a few days to live? That's not something humans bred into them, that's their natural life cycle. The moths don't even eat. Their only purpose is to fly around until they find a mate, and with humans to do that part for them they don't even need to fly.
Odd that these moths only have a few days when other more wild silk moth species (like the Luna Moth) live up to a week. They also have no mouths and change only to mate. They also call the male "flightless". That is not the case with wild moths like the loss of color they mentioned. Captivity breeding has weakened them as a species.
They are also under human care so they dont have to compete and get exist in the wild Their species will continue to live as long as humans live and use them. Life's goal is to reproduce and survive and they're meeting that through us
Nice work as usual. Another use of silk that should be mentioned is strings for musical instruments. It is not only the traditional material for strings from Persia to Japan, but was also popular in Europe until about a hundred years ago. It's a wonderful natural material.
poor moths, It's gonna be good when people find out how to make silk without them so all silk moths could be leaved alone and not boiled I just love moths too much to know that silk ones are boiled before they get to be moths and can't even fly if they do, i must quickly erase that memory
I tried raising silk worms as a kid. I took them with us on trips, and picked them fresh mulberry leaves from the bike path. But having never done it before the first one to start cocooning I had no clue what it was doing and moved it away from its spot killing it in the process. In the end I only got one cocoon and knowing it wouldn't be enough for anything I let the poor thing hatch and enjoyed the fuzzy moth for a few days.
How horrible that these silkworms are killed at such a young- Oh my God a spider! *squish* What was I saying? Oh yeah, these people are the real monsters.
I'm happy to say I have never bought anything made of silk. I have only one present that was a silk blanket. Other than that my hands are free from this tragic crime against nature.
Several years ago, I remember reading that Bhutanese sericulturists do allow their silk moths to hatch, in spite of the damage it does to the desired product.
@@missbarretto5184 is it though? if every silkworm hatched and successfully mated, you would have a rapidly growing population, eventually growing bigger than what the farm could handle. Ultimately those surplus moths are being disposed of one way or another. Its also not exactly a better fate to let them hatch. They slowly starve to death instead of a quick boil.
@@memedgirl6304 Then you might want to ask God why he gave humans pointed K-9 teeth meant for gripping and tearing meat and not flat teeth like cows and horses for grinding plants. Or the fact that we need various proteins from animals to grow healthy. I guess nature must be wrong too huh? - also work on your typing and spelling.
I had gotten some feeder silkworm just so I can see them turn into moths They are really like little babies they just eat and poop alot..and as far when they turn into moths they just breed and are pretty chill
You left out where most of those silkworms that are killed on silk harvest aren't wasted. They are eaten by people. They make great protein, and a lot of people love the taste.
I'm glad the bodies aren't discarded. I believe that when you kill something, you should use as much of its carcass as possible. Just disposing of it almost feels disrespectful to the animal, even if it's "just" a bug.
My girlfriend grew up in China. Each kid was given a silkworm to raise. She was very grossed out and is still jumpy around insects. One of the elements that distinguishes domestication is that humans control and facilitate the breeding.
As a hobbyist entomologist who has raised many kinds of moths and butterflies, something that always bothers me when left out is the silkworms’ relatively common fate if they ARE allowed to emerge from their cocoons. Like many other moths, they eclose without mouth parts- the adults survive just around a week or so on all the lipids and proteins from the mulberry they ate before pupating. The silkworms don’t have a few months or so to enjoy life as adults- their purpose at that point is to breed as much as possible before dying of starvation. When people talk about how cruel sericulture is I think they usually don’t know this, because being boiled is certainly a much quicker, probably less painful and stressful way to die. They don’t even know what’s happening as they’re being brought to the pots. If you had a sick dog that you knew didn’t have long, would you give it a swift and sure euthanasia, or would you leave it to starve and succumb after days if not weeks?
Idk. Being burned to death sure doesn’t seem painless to me. It’s not like they immediately emerged all of them. Some looked like they were barely in the scolding water. So I imagine that is quite stressful, even if only for a few minutes. Of course someone will argue that they don’t feel pain.. it wasn’t long ago that people also didn’t think babies or animals felt pain either.. we’ve since learned and know better now.
I am beginning to notice that it is not common knowledge that bugs do not have complex nervous systems like mammals do, and they cannot feel pain. So it is a relatively painless and swift death.
this is a strange ethical argument? if their natural fate is to starve to death, but they don’t feel pain either way, then by boiling them we’re just shortening their lives? why should we be the ones to decide whether 3 additional days alive is worth it or not? the snarky response to the first reply was physically cringe to read, your hobbyist experience doesn’t make you an authority on the topic 😬
My teacher kept silkworms when we were 5-12 years old and every year we would see the cycle of life ^^ also stick bugs, she was a cool science teacher.
Kinda pointless given that in the wild the numbers dead from predation or lack of food pretty much would be as high or higher. The fact they die within a few days of life kinda shows that in the end it doesn't really matter. Better to harvest them as is in the cocoon well they sleep as thousand more will survive to continue to the next generation.
I love the legend behind how silkworm cultivation began: Thousands of years ago, the Empress of China was enjoying tea in her garden when a silkworm cocoon fell into her tea. The heat of the tea unraveled the cocoon, allowing the silk to be collected. The rest is history! 🤗
I was taught that in class
Same i was taught this in my class too
Seems almost like the Chinese equivalent to the newton aple story.
Yeah,I heard the story.Fun fact:Silk was not introduced to the outside world for nearly 3000! years.If somebody tried to,they were sentenced to death.But some people kept trying and succeeded in the 1700s.
Edit:Guys,I love you!❤
wait did she still drink the tea after?
It's like someone bottled the excitement a school class gets when the teacher wheeled in that ancient TV and put it into each Deep Look video. Can't thank you guys enough for making learning my favorite hobby. Amazing job.
Thank you, Jauphrey!
So true! 🤣
My question is did your teacher turn off the lights? When ours did that before putting on the magic school bus I swear I was teleported to a different universe
I wholeheartedly agree, what a great way to describe the feeling.
love silk.
Growing up in Spain in the 00s, I had silkworms. Interestingly, after a few years I got a few mutant worms which pupated without producing a cocoon.
Intriguing- thanks for sharing that observation.
It took them a while to figure out how to go on strike.
@@AisuruMirai 😆
@@AisuruMirai Soon they'll create a Silk Moth Syndicate and start fighting humans for their political rights
I mean yeah, it took elephants a few years to realize that growing with tusks is a death sentence.
As a kid growing up in Japan, we called silk worms (kaiko in Japanese) as Kaiko-Sama. We use -sama as a way to address those whom we revere or regard highly of, such as divine entities and honorable people.
I think ancient people started calling the silk worms with an elevated address to show gratitude to the silk moths and worms. It’s a curious relationship, and I’m sure they were aware of it - to harvest unbroken silk, they had to boil them, which is a cruel practice; for the precious silk obtained in exchange for their lives, they showed reverence and gratitude to them.
I see
Thats kind of heartwarming, although it's also sad, thanks for sharing
As they should be address since they die inexchange for silk😥
Kaiko-Kai desu
Kaiko-senpai yamate!!
Darn. Never knew that those cute cuddly silkworms had such a terrible backstory.
Just like dogs but sadder
Vegans are crying. Their tears taste delicious
@@yuckfou514 Yeah better than starving a family just because of moths.
I said that to one of my friends once coz she told me that moths are scary. I was like "whaattt they're cute and cuddly-" and the look on her face was priceless 💀
@@yuckfou514
Being violent and lacking sympathy toward animals as a bragging point is quizzical.
the thing i loved the most is how PBS never tries to hide or sugarcoat things like we're killing thousands of moths for silk, and still are able to tell why they are useful for us from an objective point of view. Thats how it should be, great vid 🙌
Also great shots as always!!! Loved the timelapse with the worms and the coin
Yes, it's fantastic that they're honest about the fact that we boil them alive to steal their silk, and that we have genetically modified them ti give them all disabilities to the point where they can barely move. It's all very important information that more people should know. It certainly is an effective deterrent for funding this cruel and unnecessary industry. I certainly will never buy silk again. Thanks DeepLook.
We humans have a symbiotic relationship with a lot of animals and plants. That should be humbling.
tbf, in the wild most would die or be eaten as well. We obviously have to keep enough to make sure the population stays the same every generation so we don't fall behind on silk. In the wild predation keeps the population stable.
Fashion is not worth more than a life
@@charliebrownatemybro You’re right; it is symbiotic-but the kind where only one species benefits.
Now I don't know what would become of the pupae once they've been boiled in an industrial silk manufaturing setting, but in small-scale silk manufacturers in Vietnam they would be stir-fried with spices and chopped lime leaves to be served as a delicacy. I believe elsewhere around Asia silkworm pupae would also be consumed as human food, which IMO is a great way to prevent these protein-rich resources from going to waste
Nice
From googling around, I found out that the silkworms are too small, and after boiling, they would become moist. And not to mention about their uncleaned innards. So they won't be really tasty to eat.
That being said, they might still be used as chicken feed (this part is just my idea).
@@renseiryuu Tbf, the innards only comprise of mulberry leaves' digested remains, so it's relatively "clean" - not like you'd be dealing with rotting insect corpses in their guts anyway. And of course they wouldn't be eaten straight after boiling - I don't think anyone would want to eat that kind of squishy and bland bugs. In my experience, they would be stir-fried or roasted with seasoning until dry - by then they would have a powdery and savory texture. A spoonful scoop of these into your bowl of rice, and you have a delicacy. Additionally, there's an option to roast the boiled pupae until they get charred black; this would give them a different bitter taste, but is not recommended (as it doesn't taste very well, on top of being carcinogenic)
@@tosyl_chloride Probably like this then?
ua-cam.com/video/JzUuPguQ0pA/v-deo.html at 12:24
I guess it has been dried up first before being stir fried.
@@renseiryuu Yes, basically that (now that you meantion it, yeah. Stir-frying some soggy-wet pupae is going to result in an oil splash festival), but the selection of spices, as well as the purpose of the dish (snack, side dish, etc.) differs country by country.
I have never seen a cute insect. Normally i find all the insects disgusting but these white moths are so adorable .
Chonky and fluffy
@@KQEDDeepLookMulberry silkmoth does look fluffy and chonky on my point of view 😃
Same for jumping spiders. I hate spiders, but those guys get a pass. They act like cats too.
After Lesley said two to three days straight, starting at 02:33 i imagine it took the camera at least 2 days to record the process, not to mention the whole process to make this video. Deep Look's dedication in making all of their original contents
Agreed
These moths are pretty cute! And gosh, so industrious-three days of spinning silk! I suppose it does make sense that humans bred them to be unable to fly, given that makes them much more manageable than a moth that can fly away.
I mean, part of it is probably that the non-flightless moths escaped more often, leaving the flightless ones to remain with the silk farmers.
@@joelproko I mean... You certainly aren't wrong about that being a possible mechanism involved in the development of that trait.
they spin silk till valhalla
When you breed yo keep a certain trait, others fall by the wayside.
ua-cam.com/video/aUSBPT831-Q/v-deo.html
There is also another method of making silk that's cruelty free, called Ahimsa. Instead of boiling the larvae they let them emerge from their cocoons and then harvest the silk after.
But that would break the silk which is sth that is not wanted
That's really cool. I was wonder if they use domestic or wild type silkworms for this.
it should have been mentioned :/ bc at 3:11 she said that once the cocoon breaks, so does the thread.
edit: i would love a cruelty free alternative so if this is true, then i would look into it further. thank you
There are some companies which produce silk that do not kill the moths in the process, but the downside is that, as Lesley says in the video, the moths chew their way out of the silk cocoons, so this breaks the thread which means they can only produce shorter lengths of silk, which fetches a lower price. It's also worth noting that, as the video says, once they hatch, the moths only have a few days to live anyway. What's more, in the wild, the vast majority of these moths also wouldn't make it, being eaten by predators. The dead moths also don't go to waste; they're turned into fertilizer or animal feed.
So, at the end of the day, if you still prefer your silk from a source that doesn't involve killing the silkworms, there are options available so go for them. :) But in the bigger picture, the moths were always destined to die anyway, and their deaths are usually quite quick. They also live carefree lives with plenty of food and no predators, probably in better settings than most of our domesticated animals that we rear for food.
@@tardybloomer Cruelty is so subjective to you lot.
Silk Moths are just the most beautiful winged insects I've seen to date, the silk Worms are beautiful in their own silky way too!
ummm the most beautiful? Ever seen a lunar moth? Or idk... any butterfly in the world?
They're so floofy and cute
EDIT: probably until when we zoom in on the larvae
Alas some of us were not cute larvae
@@KQEDDeepLook touché
@@KQEDDeepLook “us”… 🤨
@@timeimp yes, us, as in people/humans. lol.
Yea same with you.
makes me look at each piece of silk in my closet in a whole new light😔 Thank you for this informative video!
You are welcome.
Not like theyre even really sentient
Don’t be sad, they make sure they produce more
I don't think you should be sad about it because we eat animals all the time, a lot of the times the pupae gets eaten much like cows, pigs, chicken and lamb. And besides, the adult silk moths don't typically live that long
@godzillapoggers9416 We have no way to know that.
Yes, their nervous system is less centralised, but then you also have basically two brains (your two hemispheres, they're potentially veery independent from one another), yet you experience unity and identify yourself with a single entity.
Most species of moth have no mouths when they change into their adult form.
That's why they only live for a few days.
At that point in the life cycle the mouth is useless, the moth only needs to breed and then lay the eggs (if it's a female)
This makes me so sad. They worked really hard to get to that stage. 🥺
@@love2000amglam thats such a cute comment. But its nature, its the way they can procreate!
@@yolomayans1655 right, it think it's all evolutionary, and part of the food chain balance.
If adult moths don't eat, they arnt taking away resources for the next generation, and all the dead moths then go on to feed other animals that finds the body.
The pupae are also also eaten as street food in Korea. "Beondegi"
I wonder if they are a side product of harvesting the silk cocoons.
They are, many cultures that harvest the silk eat the cooked pupa afterwords. Which is great since they are not wasted and only killed for the silk. At least in death their bodies are also used.
I hope so, I think it would be really tragic if we were encouraging people to waste that meat when it could keep more of us alive.
Same in China. They're actually quite tasty and buttery
mmm yes, stir fried pupae is also a delicacy in Vietnam as well.
Thailand too! I love eating silk pupae. Delicious!
These are my favorite animals. Truly fascinating, but sad that their lives are so short. I look forward to raising some this summer.
I had silkworms as pets when I was a nine year old child. It was amazing watching the silkworms weave their silk thread that made the cocoons. I had to gather leaves to feed them, but nobody knew how to make silk from the cocoons. The silkworms were beautiful and, smooth as velour.
Seeing the caterpillars in their eggs was really cool!
I remember learning about the Silk Road in middle school and how silk was made. When the teacher said the cocoons get boiled to harvest the silk, I asked what happen to the worm. The teacher gave a sad sigh, and I was like: “…oh”
Still makes me sad, but I learned in this video that silk is used in surgery so I’m iffy about the practice.
I'm honestly surprised at how low the number of silkworms needed for the amount of silk to create just one dress. I thought it would be WAY more than that.
I was actually surprised by that as well. I was expecting far far more. A testament to how much thread can be harvested from that amount.
I think the moths are bred in the hundreds of thousands anyway
ua-cam.com/video/aUSBPT831-Q/v-deo.html
Silk worms are also used as a healthy alternative to stinky crickets when feeding reptiles and other insectivores. We raised the caterpillars all the time growing up for our pet bearded dragons.
Raising one creature to feed it to another is pretty messed up
@@grimaffiliations3671 what about pets that will only live-feed, like tarantulas?
@@grimaffiliations3671 you vegetarian?
@@Christopher-po8pt no
@@grimaffiliations3671 We raise cows to feed us, and in the process made them a shadow of their mighty ancestors, the auroch. This is more humane than the cattle industry because the life of an adult silk moth is measured in days, less if they get eaten
In Taiwan 3rd grade students have to take care of these silkworms as pets for biology class!
Oh wow!
@@KQEDDeepLook Yes we do . During those time I'm the only one in my class to even successfully grow them into adulthood and causing my biology teacher headache . Because she did not expect any worms will stay alive by our hands not to mention I even have like 5 to 6 pair of couples . So , she was shocked by me the day I took a big insect cage to school and it was full of eggs .
Wow...
Also I want to carefully pat that fluffy chubby moth, it's kind of adorable.
Silkworm: **Builds a cocoon using silk**
Human: Yo, can I use your silk to make some swag clothing?
Silkworm: Wait what? No.
Human: Yay. *Takes silk*
Silkmoth: HEY! GET BACK HERE! **Struggles to fly because of its small wings**
I think its more their fat bodies than small wings. We probably bred them bigger for more silk and to prevent escape
Hhh Silkworm: Is it worth making me a homeless?
You skipped the step where the human boils the silkworm alive while it's sleeping
Silkworms have wings?
Compared to the adults the caterpillars ready to cocoon are very long (I saw some during Entomology classes) also to the touch they are almost velvet-y, so cute! :)
Thanks for sharing, Elena!
I met a silk moth once. I was working in an office with a Lab in Bristol CT USA. I went to let it outside and it just stayed on my hand, letting the breeze run through its antennae. It was the cutest friendly creature. I wish they were everywhere. Wonder how it ended up there if they can't fly.
I remember these fascinating creatures thanks to them being a school assignment of mine long ago!! That moth looks amazing and silk is incredible material, and I had no idea people changed the silk moth!!
I can't work with silk anymore because I understand that silk is full of trauma.
The cinematography and editing in this one is the best so far!
one of the most adorable insects i've ever seen. this is the first documentary i've seen of this moth, and that was actually kind of sad.
They're sort of fun to breed. Gave it a go to feed some of my insectivorian animals. Not having a stable source of their only food, Mulberry leaves, I now leave it to the experts.
They are cute
It's so interesting how we as a species figured out how to rig the system in our favor
And we've done it like what 30 times in a row too? We've got domestic goats aurochses, mouflons, geese, silkworms, honey bees, carps, foxes, rats, rabbits, canaries, pigs, apples, pears, watermelons, wheat potatoes, maize, yeasts and more. All of these have been thoroughly modified by our cultivation of them.
That is one thing I don't like about the sort of conclusion this author draws at the end of the video, I feel given that we basically created or at the very least heavily shape the biology of all these organisms.. as a species we really should feel responsible for them instead of simply wanting to throw them away.
That's not to say that production ofthat's not to say that production ofthat's not to say that production of their products cannot be made more efficient or more ethical but... Like we will come to regret if we just abandon these sorts of creatures to die.
I mean the european colonizers basically did so with the Domestic Peccary and the Wool Dog and now those resources those genes, those snuggles that wool, that meat, those behaviors perhaps unique are flat out gone for no one to learn from any longer.
The albeit the destruction of unique domestic organisms I think was much less intentional than the destruction of the natives so it's a little bit harder for me to be mad at that.
I mean the turkey, peppers, maize, llamas and more did get preserved and brought worldwide at least?
30? Try tens of thousands.
@@thomasneal9291 Please elaborate on how we have tens of thousands of domesticated species, where are all these extras that I'm not aware of?
Are they hiding in your back cupboard or something, have they gone extinct?
@@Sara3346 And even funnier is how we not only actively domesticated so many animals, but even caused one (cats) to domesticate itself.
@@Sara3346 I think they meant flowers and such.
I see silk moths at my families property in Wisconsin. Didn’t know that until now. They’re super fluffy and love gentle pets
Oh damn. I always thought you collect the cocoons after the moths chewed their way out and you spin it like wool/cotton - didn't realize you need continuous, unbroken threads. 😕
Samir ricini silk manufaturers do that, that’s why it’s sometimes preferred
Probably for maximum yield/efficiency not a necessity.
Shorter fibers could work(disclaimer: I don't sew), but would be harder to do, so they boil them alive as a shortcut...
😕
Some do, it’s about whether the company is hungry for money and efficiency or willing to be more humane.
Pretty sure the it’s not required, it’s a matter of how much silk you get
There is ahimsa silk, which is processed differently bc of the short fibers the moth leaves behind.
4:30 That shot is beautiful. Is it weird to ask how you guys did it?
Cameraman here. Thank you! I used a Laowa probe and a bunch of DIY motion control equipment. Here's a video of the setup: ua-cam.com/users/shortsJWi9wD4Sb3U
Hey Kevin!
Those moths look cuddly and cute can we stop killing it😢
no, and isnt it our fault that we shortened their lifespan by like half a year, took away their camo and made them fat and more disabled than stephen hawking?
I really hope we humans find a way to make artificial silk or any other animal products from scratch, twice the effectiveness of their natural counterparts. It is kinda sad that some animals wouldn't survive without our intervention.
They'd be rendered obsolete, and would probably die out as a species
I'd rather we continue boiling more pupae than make more plastic based fabric that'll permanently ruin the ecosystem.
There's satin made out of polyester but not as luxurious obviously as actual silk
There are synthetic alternatives to natural fibers. But the thing is the Properties aren't the same as from the natural fibres. Also if we would only rely on the synthetic alternatives it's not a long term solution since the material is not always Recyclable (depending on how it's produced and what other fibres were mixed together)
Rayon
Silkworms and moths are so cute ☺️
Oh no, I used to take care of silkworms in my 2nd-grade class. We used to cradle them and play with them, until their last days. I loved them so much and I had just learned about their tragic backstories last week.
Ngl, this is probably the least environmentally damaging form of animal husbandry.
Amazing video, glad to live in this era where you can see this for free.
Now I understand the phrase "With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown."
I don’t like many bugs, but moths are an exception. They’re so fluffy and cute, and seeing them in close up is even better! Thank you for this interesting and wonderful video, Deep Look!
I “hate” them cause when ever I’m around one they fly straight to me and I do not like flying insects and most of the moths where I live can get like the size of my head
I raised these as pets last year and their eggs hatched today.
The moth is so cute!!🐛
I am you
I wish silkworms live for 100+ years ;-; they're so cute
The silk moths are adorable. Like little alien bunnies lol
So fascinating, I don't know how you guys get these done so good!! 💯😁 really enjoyed this episode.
Thanks!
Really heartbreaking. I will never buy anything silk again.
I'm so glad I found this yt chanel. The quality of your videos is 🙌
4:03 nice syncing of guitar and wing flop
I love moths, they're adorable!
So I have an EXTREME phobia of moths. Like hit the floor and crawl away if it comes near me extreme.
That being said the tale of the domestic silk moth actually made me kinda sad. I hope this practice can end someday when we figure out how to replace it with an artificial process.
Rayon
@@Tetragramix What?
Bro, these silk moths are adorable!
That’s so sad they can’t live in the wild anymore!
So many commenters feeling bad for the moths, but you have to keep in mind that they spend the majority of their lives as caterpillars gorging themselves. Did you not hear the part about the adults having only a few days to live? That's not something humans bred into them, that's their natural life cycle. The moths don't even eat. Their only purpose is to fly around until they find a mate, and with humans to do that part for them they don't even need to fly.
Odd that these moths only have a few days when other more wild silk moth species (like the Luna Moth) live up to a week. They also have no mouths and change only to mate. They also call the male "flightless". That is not the case with wild moths like the loss of color they mentioned. Captivity breeding has weakened them as a species.
They are also under human care so they dont have to compete and get exist in the wild
Their species will continue to live as long as humans live and use them. Life's goal is to reproduce and survive and they're meeting that through us
Boiling alive seems like a rough way to go, though.
@@RTaco So is starving to death
Nice work as usual. Another use of silk that should be mentioned is strings for musical instruments. It is not only the traditional material for strings from Persia to Japan, but was also popular in Europe until about a hundred years ago. It's a wonderful natural material.
THEY LOOK SO CUTE! ☺️😭
Thank these lovely creatures for making our textiles.
ua-cam.com/video/aUSBPT831-Q/v-deo.html
Gonna be real almost started crying when you said they'll never fly and we did that they're beautiful
Imagine spinning a single thread for days on end just to be boiled alive.
Watched this because of the Time-Lapse short. Respect the shots so much more now!
poor moths, It's gonna be good when people find out how to make silk without them so all silk moths could be leaved alone and not boiled
I just love moths too much to know that silk ones are boiled before they get to be moths and can't even fly if they do, i must quickly erase that memory
SIlkmoths look so beautiful
I was just wondering few days ago about how silkworms make silk!
Great video as always, such great quality!
It’s very enjoyable and relaxing! 😍✨
Thank you, Aleksa!
@@KQEDDeepLook Thank you for replying!!
04:35 that's a really good shot, amazing composition and light
This channel is hands down amazing!
Glad you are here!
I tried raising silk worms as a kid. I took them with us on trips, and picked them fresh mulberry leaves from the bike path. But having never done it before the first one to start cocooning I had no clue what it was doing and moved it away from its spot killing it in the process. In the end I only got one cocoon and knowing it wouldn't be enough for anything I let the poor thing hatch and enjoyed the fuzzy moth for a few days.
I miss Laura’s voice over. But I’m happy with the extraordinary content you ppl give every time.
That time lapse of the cocoon is dope!
Great video as always, Deep Look! Glad I subscribed 2 million years ago ☺️☺️☺️
Their so darn CUTE🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
How horrible that these silkworms are killed at such a young- Oh my God a spider! *squish*
What was I saying? Oh yeah, these people are the real monsters.
T
Jokes on you if this is supposed to be a gotcha, some of us actually care about arthropods in general and not just cute moths
Nah cuz this is me 😭
Loved it ! Thanks for the great byte
I never knew they went through all that. 😔😞😞. Great video as always keep up the hard work. Sharing with my nieces. Hi girls love and miss yall.
Silk! Silk! Silk! Wow! This was amazing.
Am I the only one who felt bad after knowing their story?
Absolute Radiance
I'm happy to say I have never bought anything made of silk. I have only one present that was a silk blanket. Other than that my hands are free from this tragic crime against nature.
Your narration is always entertaining, not to mention every video is educational. This channel is unmatched!!!
Several years ago, I remember reading that Bhutanese sericulturists do allow their silk moths to hatch, in spite of the damage it does to the desired product.
Eri silk?
@@shefalig93 I had no idea that’s what it was called, thank you!
This is so humane, proud of them. God bless them
@@missbarretto5184 is it though? if every silkworm hatched and successfully mated, you would have a rapidly growing population, eventually growing bigger than what the farm could handle. Ultimately those surplus moths are being disposed of one way or another. Its also not exactly a better fate to let them hatch. They slowly starve to death instead of a quick boil.
@@skrubknight884 In that way your right, Maybe God or any higher power you believe in does work in mysterious ways.
Omg look at those chubby moths they’re so cute
to be fair, those cooked puppas are edible and are quite a treat too.
Eating animals is wrng, dsgsting and unhthtly. let alone dsgsting innocent insects
@@memedgirl6304 Then you might want to ask God why he gave humans pointed K-9 teeth meant for gripping and tearing meat and not flat teeth like cows and horses for grinding plants. Or the fact that we need various proteins from animals to grow healthy. I guess nature must be wrong too huh? - also work on your typing and spelling.
There being no gods to ask.. the point is moot.
I had gotten some feeder silkworm just so I can see them turn into moths
They are really like little babies they just eat and poop alot..and as far when they turn into moths they just breed and are pretty chill
You left out where most of those silkworms that are killed on silk harvest aren't wasted. They are eaten by people. They make great protein, and a lot of people love the taste.
I'm glad the bodies aren't discarded. I believe that when you kill something, you should use as much of its carcass as possible. Just disposing of it almost feels disrespectful to the animal, even if it's "just" a bug.
@@herpderp3916 it’s not just a bug without it a lot of us wouldn’t have clothes
@@jpthepug3126 Yes we would, silk’s expensive for a reason.
@@OakenTome it’s not expensive
Oh my goodness, the shot starting at 4:30 looks so cool!
is it me or that moth looks like the radiance
I thought so too! Nice to see another Hollow knight fan.
more like the radiance looks like the moth since this moth looks to be the direct inspiration for the design.
@@carlos2004 actually yeah that makes more sense
you did not just make a hollow knight refere-
@@ciderofthearctic392 yes i did
My native town once was one of best quality and productive silk industry center in the world
God,i always love this channels video quality,amazing work as always❤️
Thank you so much 😀
My girlfriend grew up in China. Each kid was given a silkworm to raise. She was very grossed out and is still jumpy around insects. One of the elements that distinguishes domestication is that humans control and facilitate the breeding.
As a hobbyist entomologist who has raised many kinds of moths and butterflies, something that always bothers me when left out is the silkworms’ relatively common fate if they ARE allowed to emerge from their cocoons. Like many other moths, they eclose without mouth parts- the adults survive just around a week or so on all the lipids and proteins from the mulberry they ate before pupating. The silkworms don’t have a few months or so to enjoy life as adults- their purpose at that point is to breed as much as possible before dying of starvation. When people talk about how cruel sericulture is I think they usually don’t know this, because being boiled is certainly a much quicker, probably less painful and stressful way to die. They don’t even know what’s happening as they’re being brought to the pots. If you had a sick dog that you knew didn’t have long, would you give it a swift and sure euthanasia, or would you leave it to starve and succumb after days if not weeks?
Idk. Being burned to death sure doesn’t seem painless to me. It’s not like they immediately emerged all of them. Some looked like they were barely in the scolding water. So I imagine that is quite stressful, even if only for a few minutes.
Of course someone will argue that they don’t feel pain.. it wasn’t long ago that people also didn’t think babies or animals felt pain either.. we’ve since learned and know better now.
@@PepsiObsessi Thank you for those informations
I mean it is the reality humans have did this for our own survival so i don't know man seems pretty ok from an evolutionary and survival standpoint.
I am beginning to notice that it is not common knowledge that bugs do not have complex nervous systems like mammals do, and they cannot feel pain. So it is a relatively painless and swift death.
this is a strange ethical argument? if their natural fate is to starve to death, but they don’t feel pain either way, then by boiling them we’re just shortening their lives? why should we be the ones to decide whether 3 additional days alive is worth it or not? the snarky response to the first reply was physically cringe to read, your hobbyist experience doesn’t make you an authority on the topic 😬
Bro these yeti moths are so dang cute
Those moths are just so freaking cute!!! 🥰
I agree 👍💯%🙂.
My teacher kept silkworms when we were 5-12 years old and every year we would see the cycle of life ^^ also stick bugs, she was a cool science teacher.
Makes me wonder if we'll find a way in the future to harvest the silk without killing the moth, thus improving production immensely.
You can harvest it, it’ll be broken though.
Kinda pointless given that in the wild the numbers dead from predation or lack of food pretty much would be as high or higher.
The fact they die within a few days of life kinda shows that in the end it doesn't really matter. Better to harvest them as is in the cocoon well they sleep as thousand more will survive to continue to the next generation.
@@sayem1337 they ARE consumed as food in some Asian countries and also used as animal feed.
the moths are soooooo cute i love them
3:33 Kukunna from Pokemon?
No
@@benreside9900yes
It looks like kakuna
Now I feel bad for wearing silk.
Oh god, I feel horrible for what we did to this poor race of bugs