Insects and human beings live on the same planet, and everyone thrives and develops together. With the progress of human science and technology, the tentacles of human beings have gone deep into the places they want to go, especially since the industrial revolution, the influence of human life and production on the earth has become increasingly far-reaching, and human beings have become the masters of the earth with an indisputable attitude. Some people think that human beings are supreme, and for our benefit, we can sacrifice the interests of all animals and plants, even their lives. Humans drove insects out of their homes and built cities and factories there ... but is this right? Numerous lessons have forced us to rethink and redefine ourselves. Is man a member of the earth or the master of everything? More and more people realize that only by living in harmony with all natural things such as insects can we achieve greater development. Because human beings are only a member of the global village, we are not much better than those insects. The history of human beings appearing on the earth is only a moment in the long history of the earth. Insects have been the masters of the earth for millions of years before the birth of mankind. Insects have a far-reaching impact on human existence and are an important factor for the existence and development of human society. These factors include favorable factors, and of course they inevitably include harmful factors. We can explain the influence of insects on human beings from these two aspects. First of all, talk about the harm of insects to us. First, the enemy of agriculture. It is reported that there are about 6000 kinds of pests that harm crops all over the world. There are more than 250 kinds of rice pests, more than 0/000 kinds of fruit pests, more than 50 kinds of corn pests and more than 300 kinds of warehouse pests in China. Such as armyworms, locusts, rice borers, corn borers, cutworms, cotton aphids, wheat midges, aphids, leafhoppers, planthoppers and scale insects, are all important pests. The losses caused by pests to agricultural production are quite amazing. It is estimated that the average annual loss of crops planted in the field is 10%, and the average loss rate of crops stored indoors is 5%. As far as rice pests in China are concerned, 1950 lost more than 40 million tons. Therefore, fighting pests and getting food back from their mouths is an extremely important measure in agricultural production. For example, Dendrolimus punctatus is the chief culprit in destroying forests. Dendrolimus punctatus belongs to Lepidoptera, and its larvae are covered with long hair, so it is named because it feeds on pine leaves. Dendrolimus punctatus is the natural enemy of many kinds of pine trees in coniferous forest. Dendrolimus punctatus harms China from south to north. There are six main species of Dendrolimus punctatus, which are named after the pine trees they feed on, such as Dendrolimus punctatus, Dendrolimus yunnanensis, Dendrolimus punctatus and Dendrolimus deciduous. More than 20 provinces (autonomous regions) and cities such as Zhejiang, Shandong, Hebei and Guangxi were seriously affected by it. When it happens, the green hills and forests can become bare branches and stubble in a few days, which looks like a fire from a distance, and the trees are covered with insects and feces from a distance. After pine trees are damaged, their growth is damaged, and even they wither and die. According to the investigation of 1952 Hunan Lingling Forest Management Office, the damaged area of Dendrolimus punctatus in Lingling and Qidong counties reached 2.53 million mu. 1953, the natural larch forest in the west of Changbai Mountain in Liaodong was damaged by more than 430,000 mu. Dendrolimus punctatus not only seriously damaged forest resources, but also caused losses to the sideline production of rosin mining. Before the reform and opening up, people in forest areas often exchanged turpentine for oil, salt, grain and rice. At that time, forest farmers often frowned and sighed and said, "Dendrolimus punctatus knocked off our oil drums, salt tanks and rice tanks." In recent years, the annual occurrence area is still 30 million to 40 million mu, and the wood loss alone is about 5 million cubic meters. Second, the enemy of home life. There are more or less pests in every family room. Those pests hidden in every corner of the room, because of their small size or small number, did not attract your attention. Otherwise, as long as you look up books or papers that have been hidden for a long time and are not often turned over, you will see bugs crawling. Please check whether the woolen clothes you don't wear often have holes. If there is, there must be moths hidden in the suitcase. Even in the candy that has not been eaten for a long time, there are bugs, which are hard to see with the naked eye. As for the insects on the flowers and trees in the garden, everyone is more common. For example, mosquitoes, which we are familiar with, are the chief culprit in spreading diseases. (1) Malaria Malaria is transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes. Malaria is also called miasma. According to the investigation of 1935 Ministry of Health, 50% of residents have plasmodium in their blood, and 72% have falciparum malaria. 1936, about 20,000 people died of malaria in Gao County, Jiangsu Province. 1876 When the Panama Canal was dug, countless workers died of yellow fever and malaria, which made 1889 have to stop working. Only after entomologists have solved the problem of mosquitoes can they continue to complete the canal project. 1930 the report of the far east tropical diseases medical association points out that about 50 people die of tiger's mouth and 50,000 people die of malaria every year in Thailand. (2) Japanese Encephalitis This is an acute infectious disease caused by virus infection and also spread by mosquitoes. This disease is also called Japanese encephalitis, commonly known as encephalitis. The patient developed fever, headache, vomiting, convulsions, lethargy and coma. There is no specific treatment, so the mortality rate is quite high. Therefore, eliminating mosquitoes is the key to ensure people's health and avoid the spread of diseases. Secondly, let's talk about the benefits of insects to human beings. Insects are an important industrial raw material. For example, (1) lac is widely used in industry and can be made into films for technical purposes. It is a high-grade paint, which is dissolved in 95% alcohol to form a film, and is used to paint high-grade furniture, wood products and decorations. In addition, lac is also the raw material of important industrial products such as plastics, conductive insulators, rubber fillers and moisture-proof agents, and is widely used in industries such as military industry, electrical appliances, rubber, printing ink, leather, plastics, steel, metallurgy, mechanical wood, food and medicine. For example, (2) Fraxinus Fraxinus has the functions of sealing, moisture-proof, rust-proof, long-acting non-rot, luminescence, promoting granulation, stopping bleeding and relieving pain, tonifying deficiency, and strengthening tendons and bones, and is an important raw material for military, light, chemical, manual and pharmaceutical production. Such as corrosion prevention and polishing of metal products, moisture prevention, rust prevention and lubrication of precision instruments and machinery. Because of its high melting point, the models and teaching AIDS made will not soften and deform at high temperature in summer. In textile industry, it is used as polishing agent, filling polishing agent in paper industry, corrosion protection of capacitors, car wax, floor wax, raw materials of cosmetics, polishing of precious furniture, etc. Especially in the military, aerospace, scientific research and other departments, the demand for ash is increasing. As a class of animal kingdom, insects play an important role in Chinese herbal medicine. Among the documents handed down from generation to generation, Shennong Herbal Classic, the earliest medical work recording the medicinal value of insects, is the first one, which was used in the pharmaceutical research in ancient China. There are 365 kinds of drugs in Shennong Materia Medica, and there are 29 kinds of "insects" recorded as drugs, of which 2 1 belongs to insects. These 2/kloc-0 pesticides can be divided into three categories: upper, middle and lower. The top grade is non-toxic, including: honey, bees, beeswax and ootheca mantidis; China products are non-toxic or poisoned, including nidus vespae, cicada and white muscardine silkworm; Inferior products are toxic, including grubs, silkworms, bird urns, pheasants, Mylabris, mole crickets, gallbladder, fireflies, clothing fish, flies, cockroaches, cockroaches. Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica expanded the broad sense of "insect drugs" to 106, of which 73 were insect drugs, which were divided into three categories: oviparous, metaplastic and moist. In the Qing Dynasty, Zhao Xuemin added 32 kinds of animal medicines to Compendium of Materia Medica, including insects 1 1 species. A total of 100 kinds of animal drugs really belong to insects and their products. Some insects have high medicinal value and play a very important role in preventing diseases, nourishing and strengthening the body and prolonging life. For example, we are very familiar with Cordyceps sinensis. It refers to the fact that after the larvae of the family Hepialidae are infected to death by a fungus of Cordyceps in autumn and winter, a fungus horny base of Cordyceps grows on the head of the larvae in the next summer, which is Cordyceps sinensis. Dig, dry or remove soil before and after summer. Eat raw. Has the effects of tonifying kidney and lung, stopping bleeding and resolving phlegm. Used for chronic cough, asthenic asthma, expectoration with blood, recurrent nocturnal emission, and soreness of waist and knees. Just soak in wine, or stew with chicken, duck, pork, etc. It has the effect of tonifying deficiency such as physical weakness after illness, spontaneous sweating and chills. It also has a certain adjuvant therapeutic effect on tumors such as lung cancer. At the same time, insects are rich in nutrients, including organic substances: protein, fat, carbohydrates and so on. , as well as a large number of free amino acids and vitamins needed by the human body; Inorganic substances: various salts, potassium, sodium, phosphorus and iron; Calcium, etc. According to the analysis, every 100 ml of human plasma contains 24.4-34.4 mg of free amino acids, while every 100 ml of insect blood contains 293.3-2430.l mg of free amino acids, which is several times higher than that of human blood. Silkworm pupa contains 18 kinds of amino acids, among which the amino acids necessary for human body are higher than those of soybean. The protein content of insects is also high. According to analysis, cicada slough contains 72.02% of protein. The wasp contains 8 1% protein; The protein content of termites is higher than that of beef. 100g of termites can produce 500 calories (2090 joules), while 100g of beef can only produce 130 calories (544 joules). It can be seen that insects are really high-protein foods. In addition to rich nutrition, many insects also have unique health care functions, such as locusts can warm the stomach, help yang, strengthen the spleen and transport phlegm, and cicadas can clear away heat, stop wind and stop spasms. Insect food has a broad development prospect and has attracted the attention of all countries. Some countries are conducting research, screening and cultivating some insect foods with high nutritional value as a source of supplementary human food. According to statistics, there are 373 species of edible insects belonging to 63 genera and 8 categories in the world. There is a news story about flies. Can you imagine calling flies immune health food for human beings? Under the determination of nutritionists, it was found that the crude protein content of dried fly maggot powder was as high as 665438 0.2%, the crude fat content was 23%, and it was also rich in trace elements necessary for human body, such as calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, so it was an excellent human food. And the production of fly maggots has the advantage of low price. Because flies have a short growth cycle and strong reproduction. A pair of flies can produce 266 billion maggots in a summer. People can extract pure protein and fat from maggots and make them into high-grade food for human consumption. It is reported that small individual flies domesticated and cultivated by China Academy of Sciences for 50 years are being used in a fly factory to extract nutritional products with immune function. This high-tech project in China has always been in the leading position in the world. Nowadays, in the "fly factory", people feed hundreds of millions of "engineering flies" with milk powder and soybean powder, and a large number of fly maggots grow fat in the nutrient base made of wheat bran. Researchers can extract antibacterial active proteins, compound amino acids, maggot oil, chitin and other widely used substances from these fat maggots. "Antibacterial active protein" has strong bactericidal power. As long as there is a concentration of one ten thousandth, it is enough to kill all kinds of germs, which provides an extremely precious clue for developing efficient antibiotics. Insects are also closely related to our scientific and technological development, and many scientific and technological inventions are inspired by insects. The first is the invention of the compound eye camera. The compound eye of an insect is made up of thousands of small eyes. Because of the mutual inhibition between small eyes, eyes have the function of highlighting the image boundary and increasing the clarity. People made a "fly eye camera" for scientific research by imitating the honeycomb structure of small eyes in flies' stomachs. You can take 1329 photos at a time with a resolution of 4000 lines. Secondly, the invention of fluorescent lamp also comes from fireflies. The luminous organ of fireflies, which grows between the sixth and seventh sections of the abdomen; From the outside, it's just a silver-gray transparent film. If you uncover this film and observe it under a magnifying glass, you can see thousands of luminous cells, and then there is a reflective layer. Luminous cells are surrounded by tiny trachea and numerous slender nerve branches. The main substances in luminescent cells are fluorescein and luciferase. When fireflies start to move, they breathe faster and inhale a lot of oxygen. Oxygen enters luminescent cells through small trachea. When fluorescein interacts with luciferase, which plays a catalytic role in cells, fluorescein will be activated and produce biological oxidation reaction, thus producing bright blue light under the abdomen of fireflies. Because of the different breathing rhythm of fireflies, a flickering "flashing signal" is formed. After research, people listed a simple formula for its luminous process, and finally developed the fluorescent lamp we use now. Insects are also good helpers in solving crimes, and one of them is called "forensic insects". There are countless typical examples of using forensic insects to "solve" cases. It is reported that a college student in California was found murdered in a secluded place on1October 25th. 1984+065438. It was difficult to determine the exact time of the murder. However, the insects on the corpse turned the tables. Forensic entomologists determined that the victim died in warm weather with the temperature above 20℃ according to the eggs of Calliphora found on the corpse, because Calliphora only laid eggs when the temperature was above 20℃. I checked the report of the meteorological department and found that the female student's body temperature was just above 20℃ on the first day of her disappearance. From this, other clues are collected, and it is analyzed and judged that the girl was killed on the day of her disappearance. Then the truth of the case came out, and the murderer could not escape legal punishment. This case not only attracted the attention of entomology, but also shocked the judicial organs. Since then, forensic insects have been established by the US Department of Justice as one of the effective tools to judge the time of death. Recently, another difficult shooting in the United States was also solved by insects. A woman's body was found in a country bungalow in South Carolina. Autopsy proved that the victim died of a gunshot wound from a small-caliber rifle in the head, and a large number of fly maggots were found on the body. Investigators collected 142 maggots and 10 pupae in the sampling, which were identified as Calliphora and Scarabaga nudiflora respectively. According to the developmental biology of these two flies and the local meteorological conditions, the researchers determined that the time of death of the victims was 65438+24 or125 October. According to this crucial judgment, the suspect was quickly found. Finally, the murderer confessed that he killed the victim with a rifle on the afternoon of October 24th, 65438/KLOC-0. Bug is known as the little hero of "solving the case", and it really deserves its reputation. Finally, talk about the relationship between insects and human culture. (1) There are a large number of place names in the world and in the insect world, and the generation, naming and changes of place names have rich contents and profound meanings. Many place names come from local unique natural features, economic characteristics, traditional national culture or religious beliefs, as well as wonderful myths and legends. Of course, many of them are named after exotic animals and flowers. More interestingly, some place names are indeed inextricably linked with insects! Panama is a country in the southeast of Central America. The famous Panama Canal runs through Lake Gaton in the central part of the country. It is said that a long time ago, there were dancing butterflies all over Tong Jia Lake. Because of its beautiful shape and bright colors, from a distance, dancing butterflies are like an ocean of flowers-a sea of butterflies! Therefore, Panama has the reputation of "the country of butterflies". In addition, many place names are also related to insects, so I won't list them here. (2) Insects and Folklore Among many insect species, some species are regarded as symbols of longing for beauty and good luck, among which bees and silkworms are typical representatives. Because bees can make honey, produce beeswax, and silkworms can spin cocoons, which is a good helper for people to get rich. In the Tang Dynasty, Li Shangyin's famous phrase "When the silkworm dies, the candle turns to dust, and the tears begin to dry" is thought-provoking and often sings new words. Therefore, people often regard bees as the embodiment of sweetness and hard work, silkworms as selfless devotees, and two insects as auspicious insects at weddings. For example, the Lagu people in China have the custom of catching bees and making bee candles. When holding a wedding, a couple must light two bee candles to show that their married life is full of light, sweetness and happiness. It is said that the reason why there is no shortage of beeswax lights at the wedding of the ancient people in Laguna comes from an ancient legend: "A pair of lovers refused to get married because of their parents' contradictions, but both committed suicide for love. Later, a tree with seven fragrant flowers grew on their grave. I don't know why the bees raised by the two elders all go down to this flower tree to collect honey. Both parents ate honey, missed their dead children and regretted it. They came to shake hands and make peace under this flower tree. "Since then, the marriage and love of the younger generation are no longer interfered. People regard bee candles as a symbol of freedom, light and beauty. On the wedding day, the Jing people, another ethnic minority in China, have a series of "song banquets" to celebrate. It is said that the most wonderful thing is "Song of Righteousness", in which men and women sing "We are like silkworms, eating a piece of mulberry leaves and spinning a sokcho" (male); We are like bees, one in the nest and the other outside the nest (female) "... pushed the joyful atmosphere symbolizing the harmony of marriage to a climax, which increased the fun and excitement of the wedding. (3) Adding colorful butterflies, beetles, dragonflies and other insects to art is deeply loved by people because of its bright colors. In the works of art of past dynasties, there are many butterflies as the theme. For example, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the pattern composed of butterflies and melons represented auspiciousness. Butterflies and flowers cooperate to make the picture vivid and natural, and the paired butterflies represent the symbol of love. There are many famous paintings of the motherland in the Palace Museum in Beijing, including a famous painting of the Song Dynasty called "Butterfly in Mu Chun". The picture is clear and vivid, with more than a dozen colorful butterflies, which are beautiful. This painting is said to have been painted by the Southern Song Dynasty painter Li Anzhong. The scales, morphological features and color markings of various butterflies in the painting are mostly similar to the real objects and lifelike. Although thousands of years have passed, all butterflies can still be identified as belonging to the Southern Song Dynasty near Lin 'an (now Hangzhou), the capital of China, and individual species can clearly distinguish their males and females. As for fabrics, embroidery, stamps and handicrafts, you can see more butterfly patterns. Papilio is the best material for making handicrafts. Papilio specimens can be displayed in various forms, mixed with flowers and placed in glass covers or photo frames as decorations on tea tables and walls, which are very popular in European and American markets. Artists use beautiful butterfly wings to collage butterfly wings, which has high artistic value. There is a butterfly wing painting modeled after the famous painting "Hundred Horses", which is worth as much as $ 16700. Taking all kinds of butterfly wings as raw materials, taking the advantages of traditional Chinese painting, oil painting and sculpture, and using the natural patterns of butterfly spontaneous combustion, we paste and spell out landscapes, landscapes, figures, flowers, birds and animals. To sum up, we can see the importance of insects to human society. Therefore, we must change our position on ourselves. We are ordinary members of nature, and we are not the masters of nature.