Bombyx hybrid Bombyx hybrid The "Bombyx" hybrid is a hybrid between a female "Bombyx mori" moth and a male "Bombyx mandarina" moth. They produce silkworm larvae like all species of "Bombyx". The larvae look a lot like the other variations. They are brown in the first half and gray at the bottom half, but they get larger black spots than other variations. Generally, they look like a normal "Bombyx" moth, but a bit darker. Hybrids are not used for silk, but are used for research. "Bombyx mori" females are much more likely to mate with a male "Bombyx mandarina", but both species
Flacherie Flacherie Flacherie (literally: "flaccidness") is a disease of silkworms, caused by silkworms eating infected or contaminated mulberry leaves. Flacherie infected silkworms look weak and can die from this disease. Silkworm larvae that are about to die from Flacherie are a dark brown. There are two kinds of flacherie: essentially, infectious (viral) flacherie and noninfectious ("bouffee") flacherie. Both are technically a lethal diarrhea. Bouffée flacherie is caused by heat waves ("bouffée" means "sudden heat spell" in French). Viral flacherie is ultimately caused by infection with "Bombyx mori" infectious flacherie virus (BmIFV, Iflaviridae), "Bombyx mori" densovirus (BmDNV, Parvoviridae) or "Bombyx mori" cypovirus