Wild silk used to produce cloth. They usually produce a tougher and rougher silk than that from domesticated "Bombyx mori" silkworms. Wild silks are usually harvested after the moths have left the cocoons, cutting the threads in the process, so that there is not one long thread, as with domesticated silkworms. Wild silks are more difficult to bleach and dye than silk from "Bombyx mori", but most have naturally attractive colours, particularly the rich golden sheen of the silk produced by the muga silkworm from Assam, often known as Assam silk. The cocoon shells of wild silk moths are toughened or stabilized
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