NAGOYA (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.

Bagworm moth larvae expel the versatile thread from their mouths to bind together leaves, twigs and other materials into nests to protect themselves. The biodegradable thread has proven to be tougher and more flexible than silk extracted from silkworms or spider web, 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 fiber reinforced polymers used in applications such as golf clubs and other sporting equipment to create a light and strong material.

To extract the thread, the firm has teamed up with the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization to develop ways to artificially raise the insects and extract 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 is planning investment of 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 silkworms still inside, bagworms are not killed in the process of harvesting the thread, Kowa says.