Color Wheel of Silkworms and the Begining of the End

Color Wheel of Silkworms

The most recent pictures of my candy colored fellows.  I have now tried 3 different colors of chow.  Glowing Cyan, Magic Purple, and Cotton Candy.  Although, the manufacturer doesn't recommend feeding different colors of chow to the same silkworm, I just couldn't resist.  So far, none have exploded, well not unless you count the "gut dump" which is just beyond disgusting, but that is another post entirely. 

BTW, it is interesting to note the "gut dump" of the colored fellows tends to coordinate with their bodies or surprisingly, to me, is a pastel shade of their body color.  Ick!

Clockwise from center top: Cotton Candy, Magic Purple/Cotton Candy, Magic Purple, Magic Purple/Glowing Cyan, Glowing Cyan, Glowing Cyan/Cotton Candy. Natural in center.

This little guy is by far my favorite.  He makes me think of the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland.  I fed him Glowing Cyan for several days, then switched to Cotton Candy for a day.  It may be hard to tell in these photos, but his body is lilac, his belly periwinkle and his feet and tail are pink.  

What a sweet face.(mask)

I promise I'm not squishing him.

Again, I am not squishing him.  No matter how horrible this photo seams, he was not harmed in any way.

 The Beginning of the End

My first voyage into silkworm rearing is coming to a close.  The "big kids" are all spinning cocoons and only about 60 worms are left.  I expect most if not all of those will be ready to spin tomorrow.  

about 6-8 hrs of work

 This is one of my Glowing Cyan silkies and a cocoon that one of his Cyan buddies finished.  The color is very slight in natural light.  I still don't know if it changes under a black light, but I'm curious to find out.

Magic purple silkies are spinning up a pinkish color and the Cotton Candies are lagging behind and haven't started spinning yet.  I'll take some pictures of those later .

Glowing Cyan Silkworm and cocoon