We carry five different wild cocoons (in addition to our Bombyx or cultivated cocoons).You can find them here.
Importing cocoons is a complicated, crazy process—not so much for Treenway Silks but the paperwork that our supplier does is really arduous! .
Our Indian supplier needed to remove the pupa from inside before exporting the cocoons to us. This means the wild cocoon have a ‘slit’ so these cocoons are not suitable for reeling.
Eri
White Eri Cocoons
We have silk cocoons from the Philosamima ricini silk worm. This silk worm gives us Eri Silk. We have both the Red Eri and White Eri cocoons.
I adore the rusty color of the Red Eri cocoons. Wouldn’t it be great if the silk combed top/sliver from the red eri was the same color?
Traditionally, it isn’t, but there's a new way of processing the red eri cocoons which retains the natural red color. You can find our red eri top here
Muga
Muga Cocoons
We also have silk cocoons from the Antherea assama silk worm. Our lovely gold muga silk yarn (Carmela & Carmelina) and combed top/sliver comes from this little guy.
This silk worm eats the leaves of the Som tree (machilus bombycine) or Soalu (litsaea polyantha). These trees contain tannin—the same complex chemical in tea that stains your teacup over time—which gives the muga silk its lovely honey-gold color.
Tussah Silk Cocoons
Tussah Silk Cocoons
Looking for cocoons from Antherea mylitta silk worms? or Antheraea pernyi silk worms? We have these, too!
Whether the silk worms are reared in the tropics or temperate climate, the leaves they eat contain tannin, the ingredient in tea which can leave stains. Here, the tannin enables the silk worm to create a lovely light-gold silk.
Our tasar cocoons from India are from the tropical variety of Antherea mylitta. This is the same variety that creates the peduncle, or stem which the silk worm spins first, to create an anchor onto the tree. Unfortunately for us, the peduncles have all been removed from our cocoons. We have both singles yarn and combed top/sliver that is peduncle silk.
Our Chinese Tussah cocoons are in tact so suitable for reeling.
