The measure denier expresses the size of silk thread. A denier is the weight of 450 m length of silk thread divided into 0.05 g units. The diameter of the bave is not constant throughout its length, instead changes according to its position in the bave shell. At the coarsest section of cocoon filament from 200 to 300 meters, the denier increases. Once more these dimensions become finer and finer as the process approaches the inside layer . The average diameter of cocoon filament is 15 to 20 microns for the univoltine and bivoltine species.