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Insect cell lines are widely used for basic and applied research in the fields of insect pathology, genetics, and molecular biology. In the present study, a new continuous cell line designated BmE-SWU3 was established from blastokinesis-stage embryos of the silkworm Bombyx mori (Furong strain). The primary culture was initially performed using Grace’s medium supplemented with 20 % foetal bovine serum (FBS) at a constant temperature of 27 °C. The dominant cell type was round and spindle-shaped. Thus far, this cell line has been cultured continuously for 60 passages. The cell doubling time was approximately 3.0 days. The SSR profile of BmE-SWU3 differs from those of the silkworm BmE and BmN-SWU1 cell lines and from those of the Spodoptera frugiperda cell line Sf9 and the Drosophila cell line S2. However, the SSR profiles among the various passages of BmE-SWU3 were stable and identical. This new cell line was highly susceptible to Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV). Semi-quantitative RT-PCR indicated that the tissue-specific gene expression patterns were completely distinct from those of BmE and BmN-SWU1.