Bombyx mori the area in China where domestication arose. Silkworm pupae are eaten in some cultures. In China, a legend indicates the discovery of the silkworm's silk was by an ancient empress Lei Zu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor and the daughter of XiLing-Shi. She was drinking tea under a tree when a silk cocoon fell into her tea. As she picked it out and started to wrap the silk thread around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small larva. In an instant, she realized this caterpillar larva was the source
Bombyx mandarina differ in karyotype from those of inland China. Domestic silkmoths are closer to the latter regarding mtDNA sequence data, and especially lack some genetic apomorphies of the northeastern "B. mandarina". Thus, the initial domestic stock came from inland China. "B. mandarina" is able to hybridize with "B. mori". Both in the wild and in a domesticated environment, females release pheromones and wait for males to be attracted and fly to them. However, "B. mori" males cannot fly. Hybridisation in the wild, therefore, inevitably means breeding between domestic ("B. mori") females and wild ("B. mandarina") males. Hybridization is possible in both