Tussah Silk
The tussah silkworms belong to the genus Antheraea and they are all wild silkworms. There are many varieties such as the Chinese tussahsilkworm Antheraepernyi Guerin which produces the largest quantity of non-mulberry silk in the world, the Indian tussah silkworm AntheraeamylitteDury, next in importance, and the Japanese tasar silkworm AntheraeayamamaiQuerin which is peculiar to Japan and produces green silk thread.
The Chinese and Japanese tussah worms feed on oak leaves and other allied species. The Indian tussah worms feeds on leaves of Terminalia and several other minor host plants. The worms are either uni- or bivoltine and their cocoons like the mulberry silkworm cocoons can be reeled into raw silk.
