Geographically, ninety percent of the global commercial silk production is concentrated in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of China and India 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 31, which experience wide diurnal and seasonal variation of temperature and relative humidity (RH). On the contrary, the wild silkworms feed on wide range of trees, which eventually influences the physico-chemical properties of their silk fibers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 31. The name mulberry silk owes to the fact that these silk worms feed on mulberry trees. One major domesticated species, which has been commercially exploited for a long time is mulberry silk ( Bombyx mori).
The rest of the species, which are yet to be domesticated, are considered as wild silk. Only very few of them has been domesticated and commercially exploited for silk production. Till date more than 4000 different species of silk moth has been documented in the literature. In essence, SCM has versatile functional features. Further SCM could be transformed into graphene nano-structure, upon pyrolysing it in an inert environment 30. It is further equipped with features like carbondioxide gating 20, free flow of oxygen 21, fluorescent coating 22, photo-protection 23, temperature regulation 20, 24, 25, 26, 27, UV protection 28, water-proofing 29 which may be vital for the growth, development and survival of the developing pupae. It offers the dormant pupae protection against the predators 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. Apart from silk cocoon's use in extracting silk fiber, this complex fibrous protein membranous shell acts as a protective enclosure ensuring successful metamorphosis of the silkworm pupae to silk moth 8, 9, 10. During the last century, silk has found applications in cell culture and tissue engineering (XX-XXI A.D.) 4, 5, 6, 7. Surgical silk suture were used during last two centuries (XIX-XX A.D.). Spider silk was used by the Greeks and Romans for wound dressing (IX-I B.C.). For centuries, both silkworm cocoon and spider silk has held a unique place in the textile and biomedical industry. Silk cocoon membrane (SCM) and spider silk are insect engineered biomaterials 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
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