Insect Products

• Sericulture by moths
– What species of insect?
– What is the process?
• Lac by scale insects
– What is it? “Who” makes it?
• Paper & Ink by wasps

larva adult
The Polyphemus moth of the
Giant Silkworm moth family pupa

SILKWORM MOTHS
• Order LEPIDOPTERA (scale wing)
– Family: Bombycidae
– Few species are native to the U.S.
– The “ commercialized ” silkworm moth is
•Bombyx mori [a native of Asia]
• The propagation of silkworm moths & their host plants is termed
– SERICULTURE

SERICULTURE
• Chinese in origin
– ca. 4,000 BP
• To Japan ca. 2,100 BP
• To Europe ca. 1,500 BP
– via Constantinople (Istanbul) by Christian monks
• To the U.S. with the early colonists
– and a failure.

The Process Starts with adult moths

Female moth lays eggs on paper

Early instar
moth larvae feeding on mulberry leaves

Mature moth larvae just about done eating

Filature
of cocoons

The end product

LAC
- a resin usually produced in thin flaky layers, or shells and used in making varnish, phonographic records, insulating materials, et al.
”
“ Lac ” comes from insects…

Lac Insects
• The word “ LAC ” derives from the Sanskrit word “ laksah ” , similar to the Hindi word
“ lakh ” which means:
– one hundred thousand
• Order HOMOPTERA (same or equal wing)
– family COCCIDAE - the Scale Insects
– 2,000 species worldwide
– phytophagous life style ( “ sap tappers ” )

Scales of Economic Importance
• The LAC scale
– Laccifer lacca
• The Cactus Scale
– from which we get Cochineal dye
– Coccus cacti (Gr. = “ berry ” )
• The Kermes scale
– from which we get Kermes dye
– Coccus ilicis

from the cactus scale
• Sessile, soft-bodied plant feeder.
• Lives and feeds on Opuntia cactus. Insect and Opuntia are native to S. America and
Mexico.
• Large, wingless females and smaller winged males.
• Produce carminic acid as a defense mechanism .

Cochineal Extract and Carmine
• Origins: Maya and Aztec
• Carminic acid extracted from the body/eggs of females.
• Cochineal extract—raw coloring made from crushed insects.
• Carmine—purified coloring made by boiling the crushed insects with solvents.
• Colors food, makeup, cloth, wool, paint and ink.

• 155,000 cochineal insects to make a kg of cochineal dye.
• Today, Peru, Canary Islands, Chile, and Mexico produce cochineal dye.
• France, Japan, and Italy are the largest importers.
• Market price 2005: between 50 and 80 USD per kg.
– Increased significantly since then

• The Paper Wasps
– Order HYMENOPTERA (membrane wing)
– family Vespidae
• the social paper wasps = yellow jackets & hornets
– Wasp derived from the Anglo-Saxon word
Waesp which means “ to weave ”
– The paper wasps have been inhabiting earth for about 70,000,000 years.

FYI A Short History of Paper
• Believed to be Chinese in origin
– 1,800 year BP; Chinese Turkestan
• Paper technology in the 9th century Arab world.
• To Moorish Spain in 1150
– to Italy in 1250
– to Germany in 1300
• England: 1590; Sir John Spielman receives a royal license to produce paper

INK
• Quality inks produced from Oak Galls
• What ’ s a Gall ?
– A physical response/growth by a plant following the laying of an insect egg(s) into the plant ’ s tissue
• The Ink Oak Gall
– a wasp of the genus
Cynips gallae-tinctoriae
• Gall
: Anglo-Saxon word meaning bitterness, irritation or offensive

The wasp responsible
The gall
The final product

Oak Apple Galls
(by Oregon’s own gall wasp)

• Sericulture by moths
– What species of insect?
– What is the process?
• Lac by scale insects
– What is it? “Who” makes it?
• Paper & Ink by wasps

Back to lecture
Instar – n. a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each molt until sexual maturity is reached.
Filature – n. The process of drawing fibres into threads, especially the process of reeling raw silk from cocoons.