Silkworm (Bombyx mori)

Timeline

1. c. -3000–-200China's Central Plains and Jiangnan · ChinaThe silkworm was domesticated over a long period from the wild silk moth (Bombyx mandarina), losing the ability to fly and depending on artificial rearing; the Han dynasty already had systematic sericulture and reeling institutions and records of 'sangcan', laying the production foundation for later Silk Road silk exports.
2. 500–1340Silk Road and the Mediterranean · MediterraneanSilkworm rearing techniques spread westward along the Silk Road to the Byzantine and Islamic worlds, with raw silk and brocade transshipped through Venice and Genoa to Western Europe; by 1340, northern Italy (especially Lucca) had developed a mature industry chain relying on a mix of Eastern and locally reeled raw silk.
3. 1340–1349China's Jiangnan and Lucca, Italy · TuscanyIn the 1340s under Yuan rule, Jiangnan remained the main sericulture region, with annual tribute and private silk goods exported by sea and land; meanwhile Lucca's silk workshops were renowned for fine weaves, relying on imported and locally reeled raw silk. After the Black Death swept Italy in 1348, many workshop artisans and merchants died and production was briefly interrupted, but silkworm rearing continued in China and parts of the Mediterranean, preserving stock and techniques for recovery after the 1350s.
4. 1800–1900China, Japan, and Italy · East AsiaThe introduction of scientific selective breeding and disease control (such as control of pébrine), accelerated silkworm breed differentiation, and East Asian sericulture output ranked among the world's highest, continuing the global silk trade division of labor formed before the 1340s.