Why do silkworms eat only certain leaves?
It is fun to keep a few silkworms and watch them develop. For a while, the hungry little caterpillars munch away day and night. You would think that such famished fellows would eat every green leaf they can find. But not at all silkworms are very fussy about their food, and if it is not just right they starve. We eat a varied diet of meat and vegetables, because this is the kind of food our bodies can digest. We could not get enough nourishment from a diet of green leaves. A little silkworm gets all the nourishment he needs frost green leaves, and this is the only kind of food he can eat. Mary other caterpillars feed on green leaves, but they are not as fussy as the true silkworm caterpillar. The caterpillar of the white cabbage butterfly prefers to dine on cabbage leaves. But he lives in the wild, and his favorite food may be scarce. Then he settles for a second choice. He will eat the leaves of almost any mustard type plant. The caterpillar of the lovely luna moth is a chubby green f
