Maria Sibylla Merian — Der rupsen begin, voedzel en wonderbaare verandering (1712)

I.

Mulberry trees.

THE title page depicts a wreath of mulberry-tree branches with leaves, blossoms, and fruits, whose leaves are the proper food of the silkworms.
These worms emerge from eggs that are carefully preserved by enthusiasts throughout the entire Winter; they are hatched in the spring by the heat of the Sun, at which time one gives them the mulberry leaves as their food, being careful that the leaves do not have any moisture on them, for this is deadly to them. When these little worms are about eight or ten days old, their color turns to a dark gray, which is a sign that they will molt in a short time; this happens three or four times: their color is almost entirely white, but when they have reached their complete maturity, then they become clear and somewhat transparent, constantly swaying back and forth with their heads, and begin to spin the silk from their mouths; the enthusiasts, seeing these signs, usually put them in a paper cone, in which they spin themselves into an oval shape like an egg; if this silk is white, then the worm's feet have also been white, just as if it is found to be yellow, the feet have also been yellow; this being accomplished, the worm changes into a small pupa; in this form it remains for twenty-one days, then a whitish moth emerges from it, which gnaws through this skin and sheds it, leaving some brown moisture; they consist of two sexes: the male is thinner in body than the female; having mated, they lay their eggs firmly on a paper, where they have been placed for that purpose; thus they live nine or ten days without eating or drinking and die. The eggs are first yellow in color, in size like the gienst likely referring to mustard seed or a small grain; in a short time they become gray and are then preserved until the spring as mentioned above.