I talked about your question with my friend Allan Felsot. He’s an insect scientist at Washington State University. He told me cocoons are mostly silk. But they’re usually made by moths. A butterfly ...

John E. Woodmansee Photo: Tobacco hornworm on a tomato plant that has been attacked by a parasitic Braconid wasp. The white capsules on its back are the pupal stage of the tiny wasp. Braconid larvae ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. A chrysalis needs to be perfect when a caterpillar or silkworm ...

Those precious silk garments in your closet were made by the caterpillar of a fuzzy, white moth — thousands of them. Silkworms spin a cocoon with a single strand of silk up to 10 city blocks long.

Explores various types of insect homes and their life cycles. It discusses how insects like moths, webworms, spittle bugs, gall wasps, beetles, ants, cicadas, ant lions, caddis fly larvae, wasps, and ...

Insects are the most numerous life form on the planet, with 80 percent of the world’s species having six legs at some point in their lives. In order to successfully survive every season, a variety of ...

Resin, similar to the kind shown here, is used by the newly discovered caterpillar to build its cocoon. Ned Therrien/Visuals Unlimited/Corbis One little insect in Borneo is taking home defense to a ...