The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of the domesticated silk moth, Bombyx mori (Latin: silkworm of the mulberry tree). It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even osage orange. Domestic silk moths are closely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding.