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Volume 28 - Issue 19 :: Sep. 10-23,

• Contents
2011
INDIA'S NATIONAL MAGAZINE
from the publishers of THE HINDU

Shaitan Full NATURAL SCIENCE

Movie
Fresh Out of Art and architecture
Theatres On a PC
Near You. Full GEETHA IYER
Movie Premiere on
YouTube Insects have inspired artists and poets and also provided
www.YouTube.com/Shaita architects with examples of materials and methods that can be
used.

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www.Pecopp.com/Pest_C THE colours and forms of moths and butterflies have inspired artists
and poets for centuries. One of the oldest industries to evolve from
insects is sericulture, or silk production. According to Confucius'
records, silk was discovered in the third millennium B.C. in China. The
Chinese held a monopoly over silk to the extent that anyone
attempting to export silk came under the death sentence by imperial
decree. Both raw and woven silk played a major role as virtual
currency and was a symbol of status and style in many cultures, for
instance, among Persians, Byzantines, Turkish nomads and the
Sogdian merchants of Central Asia1.

Silk moth

A delightful legend records that one day a silkworm cocoon accidentally

fell into the teacup of Empress Xi Ling, wife of the Yellow Emperor. She
started unwinding the silk threads in order to rescue the cocoon from

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her cup and in the process discovered silk. On the emperor's advice,
she began to observe the life of the silk moth and soon learned to grow
it and extract silk. She then trained her entourage to raise silk moths
and thus began the industry that remained a closely guarded secret for
several centuries. Although this story is attributed to several
princesses, records point to the empress as the first sericulturist.

Creatonotos transiens; the arctiid moth; and Lymantria lepcha.

Moths are usually seen more as being destructive in nature rather than
as the insects that have dictated the economy of countries for centuries
(and still do). The moth is the butterfly's closest relative, yet there is a
persistent notion that moths are not as colourful as butterflies. Moths
far outnumber butterflies in species diversity and exhibit colours and
forms that are quite fascinating. The selection of moth images on these
pages bears testimony to this fact.

The Saturniidae family, to which silk moths belong, includes some of

the most spectacular species of the order Lepidoptera. The moths of
this family all produce lustrous silk. They are wild species and differ
from the ones that feed and grow on mulberry trees. The Indian
subcontinent is believed to have about 50 species of silk moths that
may be of economic importance. Of these, at least 24 species have

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been recorded in north-eastern India, which is an ideal habitat for

these species and is, consequently, a centre for wild silk culture2.
Hence, sericulture could be further developed as a livelihood option for
people living in remote areas. Muga, Eri and oak tassar are examples
of silk cultured from wild species of moths. There are probably many
species of silk moths still undiscovered in regions such as Nagaland.

MOTHS CAN BE as colourful as butterflies. Cyana sp.

The domesticated silk moth, Bombyx mori, is quite different from the
silk-producing wild species described above. The caterpillars of these
moths feed on the leaves of the mulberry tree and moult several times
before spinning themselves into silky cocoons. Rearing the caterpillars,
removing the silk, and so on, require knowledge and skill.

There are many legends about how the Chinese monopoly over silk was
broken. One has its source in the records of the seventh century monk
Xuanzang. Around the first century A.D., a Chinese princess was given
in marriage to one of the princes of Khotan. Before her journey to that
country, she discovered that Khotan had neither mulberries nor
silkworms. She could not imagine a life without silk. So she hid a few
mulberry seeds and silk moth cocoons in her headdress and smuggled
them out of China, much to the delight of the King of Khotan, who had
long wanted to make silk in his country.

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WEAVER ANTS, OECOPHYLLA smaragdina, make their nest by

sticking leaves together using the silk produced by their larvae.

Yet another legend, based on a story by Procopius, a Byzantine scholar

from Palestine, describes how two monks smuggled silkworm eggs in
bamboo rods hidden in their clothes. They were sent by the Byzantine
Emperor Justinian so that he could start a silk industry in his empire.

In the moth's world, silk is not merely a material to form cocoons for
the pupa to metamorphose in. Several caterpillars hang on to silken
thread to move out of their homes or to move in search of food. Others
use thread to form pads on which they can moult.

Silk in the insect world

“as a representative

of the insect world

i have often wondered

on what man bases his claims

to superiority

everything he knows he has had

to learn whereas we insects are

born

knowing everything we need to

know”

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(ABOVE AND BELOW) The white colour in these pierids is

largely the result of the effect of the scattering of light.

– From Don Marquis' book the lives and times of archy and mehitabel

Silk may have been discovered accidentally by humans, but in the

insect world, silk is a material that is instinctively secreted by several
different types of insects, not just moths.

The weaver ant, Oecophylla smaragdina, constructs its nest using the
silk produced by its larvae. Larvae that are ready for metamorphosis
are held by the worker ants, and their silk is woven to bind leaves
together to form a nest.

Caddisflies (order Trichoptera) produce protective cases in which their

larvae develop. They obtain materials from their immediate
environment and stick them together using silk to form the cases.
When the larvae are ready to pupate, the cases are closed with pads of
silk similar to those produced by moths. The labial glands, generally
used to produce saliva, take on the function of silk production in
Lepidoptera and Trichoptera. This spinning habit appears to have
evolved around 250 million years ago.

The bagworm moth, as its name indicates, builds narrow cylindrical or

conical bag-like structures on leaves or branches within which its
young develop. The larvae pop their heads and a part of their bodies
out of the bags to feed on leaves. At the slightest disturbance, they
retreat into their bags. Silk covers the mouth of this bag when the
larvae get ready to transform into adults. The insects of the order
Embioptera are commonly known as web-spinners and produce silk
from structures on their legs. Very small in size (1.5-2 millimetres),
they construct silken tunnels or chambers to live in.

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THE COLOURS OF this butterfly, Euthalia nais, commonly called

baronet, are the result of pigments produced by biochemical
reactions.

There are many more examples of silk production among insects such
as midges, glow worms, fleas, wasps, sawflies and bees. Silk is also
used by insects for mechanical reinforcement, thermal regulation and
altering humidity conditions.

From silk to art

The ancient Chinese used silk fibres not only to weave cloth but also to
make canvases for paintings. In the second century B.C., silk was used
to make paper. Insects have been a favourite subject with oriental
painters. The earliest of such pieces were made by Huang Ch'uan in
A.D. 950. To serve as a painting model for his son, Huang painted a
dozen insects in a work titled “Beautiful Birds Sketched from Life”.

Butterflies

Along with figure and landscape painting, “Bird-flower-insect” painting

has long been a major branch of Chinese art. Over the centuries,
several artists devoted themselves to insect-painting, an impressive
example being the four-metre-long scroll by Chu Ju-lin, alive with
dozens of butterflies and bugs. Chinese insect paintings are supposed
to have feng shui aesthetics. In this system, the butterfly is a symbol
of eternity, and a butterfly over flowers represents sweet love and
perfect marriage. Butterfly art was most popular in medieval Japan,
where it featured prominently on family crests known as ka-mon.

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THE LARVA OF a bagworm moth popping its head out of its nest
to feed.

Butterflies have fascinated human beings of all cultures, their colour

being a prominent reason for their popularity. The German poet,
thinker and scientist J.W. von Goethe said: “... all nature manifests
itself by means of colours to the sense of sight”.

Insects have two main mechanisms3 by which they produce colour

which inspires artists. Physical or structural colours are produced by
the scattering, interference or diffraction of white light by the surface
of any material. Pigmentary colours are produced by the absorption of
visible light by a variety of chemicals. Both these processes, either
individually or together, are responsible for the colours of insects.

Butterflies and moths belong to the order Lepidoptera, which means

“wings with scales”. Scales are modified hairs covering the bodies and
wings of these insects. They are arranged in several rows and
constructed in patterns based on a genetic blueprint. The orientation
and stacking patterns of scales influence the production and perception
of structural colour. The construction of scales is flexible, allowing for

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variability in shape and the emergence of new shades of colour. In

short, butterfly wing colours are the result of the structure and optical
properties of its scales.

The pigments responsible for colour are obtained from food synthesised
by, or in rare cases obtained from, microbes resident in their bodies.

The butterflies of the Pieridae family are generally referred to as

whites and yellows. The white colour of the cabbage white butterfly is
largely the result of scattering of light. When all light is reflected off
the body of the insect (because of the pattern and arrangement of its
scales), it appears white. In some pierids, the colour is the combined
effect of scattering and a class of pigments called pterins. Pterins, along
with melanins, produce black colour.

THE INDIAN PURPLE emperor butterfly, Apatura ambica.

Looking at it from two angles shows one how the colours
produced by interference change with a change in the position
of the viewer.

Interference colours, common in butterflies, result from the reflection

of light from surfaces that are created by scales arranged in complex
ways. In other words, the wavelength (colour) of reflected light
depends on the spacing and angle of the scales on the wing. These
reflecting surfaces produce the shades of blue, green, silver, gold and
brass yellow seen in butterflies. Additionally, when there is a change in
the position from which one sees an insect, the colour seen may also
change, as moving is equivalent to changing the distances (and angles)
between scales. This results in iridescence.

This phenomenon, more common among beetles than butterflies, can

also be the result of diffraction. When light strikes the cuticle (hard
body covering) of the beetle, it is bent to varying degrees and splits
into its spectral colours. One of the perceivable effects of this is
iridescence, which is lost if the light is dim. Since diffraction colours are
not produced in dim light, beetles and butterflies that iridise in bright
light look black or brown in low light.

Among the most attractive butterflies in the world are the swallowtails.
Exquisite, colourful and dainty, Kaiser-i-hind, Bhutan glory, peacock
and dragontail butterflies are a treat for a lepidopterist. With a

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wingspan of 190 mm, the southern birdwing is the largest butterfly in

India. Equally attractive and pleasing to the eye are the colourations of
nymphalid and lycaenid butterflies. Their colours, especially yellow, are
due to pigments called flavoids, which are obtained from food. While
black is predominant in several swallowtails, black and brown are seen
in nymphalids. Melanin is the pigment responsible for most of the dark
patterning on the body and wings. Melanins, found in the cuticle of
insects, are black, brown, tan or reddish brown pigments and are
produced by complex biochemical reactions.

THE NEST OF the tree ant, Crematogaster. Rufous woodpeckers

use this ant's nest to raise their brood.

Ommochromes are red, yellow or brown pigments that are produced by

the cells that form scales. In many butterflies and moths, the
appearance of the red or brown colour during pupation is due to the
synthesis of these pigments. Ommochromes help insects remove
certain molecules that may be toxic if allowed to accumulate. Like
tigers and elephants, butterflies, moths and a number of other insects
figure prominently in illegal trade. While a lot of attention is given to
controlling trade in tiger parts and elephant tusks, little has been done
to curb the surprisingly huge global trade in insects.

The trade in butterflies alone is around $200 million though butterfly

collection is banned by the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. Insect
poaching is as rampant as tiger poaching. The atlas moth and several
wild silk moths fetch high prices in the international market.
Swallowtails and colourful nymphalids are collectors' items besides
being in demand as souvenirs, for jewellery, and so on. Habitat
destruction combined with active collection by poachers is likely to spell
doom for many of these exquisite insects unless the public is educated
on the issue and stringent laws are enacted to combat this silent
aggression against insects.

Insect architecture

Insects have not only inspired artists but also provided architects with
examples of materials and methods that can be used. Insect
nest-building is done predominantly for the purpose of rearing young.
Apart from web-spinners, insects construct homes to raise their brood
in safety. The activities of termites in building mud houses are
legendary. Their naturally air-conditioned structure is built to house
their queen and her constantly increasing colony of soldiers and
workers. The buildings of honey bees and potter wasps are also well
known. However, there are other spectacular insect architects.

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Paper wasps & hornets

These social insects also raise large colonies whose members are
differentiated on the basis of caste. Here again, the queen lays eggs to
produce workers who build large nests to house the ever-increasing
number of colony members.
SANJAY SONDHI

HABITAT DESTRUCTION IS a threat that may spell doom for

pretty butterflies such as this five bar swordtail, Graphium
antiphates.

Three different materials are used in the building of these nests. The
nest (usually spherical though it can also be tubular or conical) is
usually suspended from a support by means of a short stalk. So the
first material is a special secretion produced by the queen that sticks
the stalk firmly to the support. The strong adhesive property of this
material has evoked much interest in the scientific community.

The second raw material for nest-building is cellulose from plants. The
cellulose is mixed with salivary secretions and made into a papery
material that is then used to construct individual cells. One egg is laid
inside each cell.

The third material is silk. While the colony is started by the queen, the
work is soon taken over by worker wasps. The silk is spun by larvae
when they are ready to metamorphose, to plug the opening of their
cells.

At Rishi Valley School, in Andhra Pradesh, the students once let a

paper wasp queen build her nest under a table in their classroom. They
noticed that rather than going to plants, the wasp that started the nest
would chew off bits and pieces from the files kept on the table to use as
building material. Since she took a particular liking to pink files, her
nest was white and pink in colour. As the nest grew in size, the wasps
and the students began to get jittery in each other's presence.
However, despite our best efforts, the nest could not be detached from
the surface of the table as the stalk of the nest was stuck firmly. We
could well understand why this glue produced by the wasp would
provoke so much interest among scientists.

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A WORKER HORNET busy putting the finishing touches to a new

funnel-like entrance to the nest.

The principle of nest construction and the raw materials used are
similar for hornets and paper wasps. However, the design and the
finished product are quite different. Hornet nests, built both on trees
and below the ground, have hexagonal cells laid out in a circular/spiral
manner along a central pillar. These cells are covered completely from
the outside, with specific openings that serve as entrance and exit.
Hornets often change the exits and entrances, closing old ones and
opening new ones.

Tree ants of the Crematogaster species build nests on trees quite

unlike those of the weaver ant Oecophylla.

Tree ants

These nests are almost the size of a football. The ants share these
dwellings with the rufous woodpecker, which uses it to lay eggs and
raise her chicks. The relationship between the two is a source of
curiosity. The ant is the woodpecker's food and the eggs of the bird are
food for the ant. Yet, they both give up this feeding habit when the
woodpecker builds her nest. She bores a hole into the side of the ant's
nest and creates a chamber to lay the eggs, and the ants do not seem
to mind. The woodpecker returns the favour by protecting the ants
from other woodpeckers that might feed on them.

Carpenter bee

Masons, weavers, diggers and paper-makers are not the only architects
among insects. There are carpenters too. The carpenter bee, or
Xylocopa, is large, shiny blue and is often mistaken for a bumble bee.
It looks intimidating but rarely stings; indeed, only the female
possesses a sting.

The carpenter bee tunnels into wood with the help of its strong
mandibles (the “upper jaw”, so to speak). However, it does not eat the
wood. Instead, it spits it out to create chambers inside the wooden
tunnel. A single large hole is the entrance to the residence. Although
Xylocopa is a solitary bee, it makes its nest close to others of its kind,
and they all share responsibilities such as guarding the nest while
others are away foraging. Sometimes, mothers, sisters and children
cohabit the same tunnel but in cells that are separated by pieces of
wood.

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THE CARPENTER BEE, Xylocopa. For all its intimidating look, it

is one that does not sting often. The male does not even possess
a sting.

The architectural abilities of insects are worthy of wonder. The

geometric accuracy of the hexagonal cells of hornets, bees and wasps;
the tenacity of their silk fibres; their knowledge of cellulosic paper:
these raise a whole lot of questions about the origin and evolution of
life on earth and about instinct versus learning.

Present-day Japan is witnessing a renewed enthusiasm for insects.

Even in Tokyo, where living space is a constraint, people of all ages are
finding room for some wilderness. Insects are sold live in vending
machines and department stores. They are the subject of the popular
videogame Mushiking, which features battles between different species
of beetles.

The film Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo premiered on May 17 on

Independent Lens on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). It explores
modern-day Japan's new-found social relationship with insects and the
country's fascination for nature's “most efficient creature in space,
design, and function – insects”. The film raises a pertinent question: Is
our “instinctive” repulsion to bugs merely a trick of conditioning? The
film-makers believe that “insects, like haiku or a Zen garden, can
represent the world at large writ small”.

Geetha Iyer is an author, a nature enthusiast and independent

consultant in the fields of environment and education.

REFERENCES

1. Feltham, Heleanor B.; ‘Justinian and the International Silk Trade';

“Sino-Platonic Papers” (November 2009), Number 194; Department of
East Asian Languages and Civilisations, University of Pennsylvania.

2. Kakati, L.N. and Chutia, B.C.; ‘Diversity and ecology of wild

sericigenous insects in Nagaland, India'; “Tropical Ecology” (2009);
50(1); pages 137-146.

3. Chapman, R.F.; ‘The Insects: Structure and Function'; 4th edition;

Cambridge University Press; page 657.

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