Borocera cajani

B. cajani is considered a delicacy to the Malagasy people. They eat it in the pupal stage either fried or mixed with chicken and rice.[3] Only pupae are eaten, not the larvae.[9][10] The Malagasy people call the larvae zana-dandy.[10]

The Malagasy people regularly harvest the cocoons of B. cajani, which they call soherina.[10] Landibe silk is harvested by women, who dye the silks using plant dye, mud, and charcoal to give the silk earthy colors.[11] An estimated 10,000 families work within the silk industry within Madagascar.[6] Due to its rarity, landibe silk can sell for high prices, ranging from 100 to 200 American dollars for a few meters.[12] During the colonial period, French authorities attempted to control the landibe industry, with a landibe research center being created by colonial authorities.[13][7] Joseph Gallieni wrote of landibe silk as an "important issue which directly affects the economic future of Madagascar," with district boundaries planned out according to expected silk revenues within the tapia woodlands.[7] It was later deemed of inferior quality to Bombyx mori silk, locally known as landilikely.

The Malagasy buried the deceased in shrouds of silk made from B. cajani cocoons,[3][6] and they would regularly exhume bodies every 5–10 years to be rewrapped in landibe silk in a practice known as Famadihana or famonosan-drazana.[6][4] Red-dyed Landibe shrouds are known as lambamena in the Malagasy language, while lighter shades of cloth are known as lambalandy which is wrapped over the initial lambamena layer.[12][14] The practice of Famadihana is of importance, constituting a form of razana worship. Where beings in a parallel spiritual world constantly interact with the world of the living.[14] The practice is one of simultaneously clothing the corpse, as well as honoring them. While refusing to shroud a corpse is viewed as stripping the body of its status as a human and veneration.[14]

Embassy of Madagascar to Great Britain in reign of queen Ranavalona I, with robes of landibe silk. Painting by Henry Room, before 1850

Along with funerary shrouds, landibe silk is used to make lamba garments.[12][14] The lamba is often seen as an iconic Malagasy symbol to the diaspora population, which wear it to represent their cultural heritage. During the rule of Radama I, landibe silk was used to create Western attire such as suits and in the present day, can be used to make high-end fashion.[14] Some elder individuals hold the silk in high regard, and believe that only nobility and elders can wear it, due to its association with the practices of Famadihana.[14]