Silkless Pupa

Today I discovered one of the three remaining silkworms had become a pupa without making a cocoon. Five thousand years of breeding and this individual doesn't even deign to spin a single strand of silk! Ah, such a rebellious little worm. I wonder what has caused him to be like this. I know his parents both span cocoons - so why not this one?

He is vulnerable without his shell. When I accidentally touched him I found that he was still soft. He recoiled a little, as if my finger were hot.


I intend to leave him be now and take a photo each day in the hope that he survives and changes into a moth. It should be interesting to see.