Japanese Firm Turning Bagworm Silk Into Fibre Products In World First

NAGOYA, Jan 4 (Bernama-Kyodo) -- Environmentally friendly and highly durable bagworm silk is set to be used in a commercial application for the first time, according to a Nagoya-based firm, Kyodo News Agency reported.

Bagworm moth larvae expel the versatile thread from their mouths to bind together leaves, twigs, and other materials into nests for protection. The biodegradable thread has proven to be tougher and more flexible than silk extracted from silkworms or spider webs, according to Kowa Co.

Kowa, whose business fields range from textile trading to the manufacturing of medical products, has developed sheets from the thread that can be mixed with carbon fibre-reinforced polymers used in applications such as golf clubs and other sporting equipment to create a lightweight and strong material.

To extract the thread, the firm has teamed up with the National Agriculture and Food Research Organisation to develop methods for artificially raising the insects and extracting the thread efficiently.

The company is working with a sports goods maker to develop products and hopes to find applications in airplane parts and bulletproof vests.

Kowa has developed the brand name Minolon for the new material, drawing on "minomushi," the Japanese name for bagworms.

The company said it plans to invest tens of billions of yen in a bid to boost manufacturing and develop products that take advantage of the silk's properties.

Unlike sericulture, in which cocoons are boiled with the silkworms still inside, bagworms are not killed in the process of harvesting the thread, Kowa says.

-- BERNAMA-KYODO