Economic Zoology

General Zoology
Insects affect man’s welfare in many
ways.
Many insects are beneficial to man.
Beneficial insects are divided into two
main groups according to the nature of
benefit derived from them. They are
Productive and Helpful insects.

Beneficial Insects
These insects produce certain substances
which are useful to humans. The
important useful insect products are
Honey, Silk and Lac.

A. Productive Insects
Honey bees are social insects.
They live as colonies.
They are active throughout the year. They
feed on the pollen and nectar of flowers.
In India there are four different varieties
of honey bees.
Of these, only three species are useful in
collecting honey.

1. Honey bee
1.a. Apis dorsata (Rock
bee). This is the
largest of the Indian
honey bees. It produces
plenty of honey. It
builds large open single
combs which may often
be four feet long on tall
forest trees. It is not
possible to domesticate
them for the bee
keeping industry.
1.b. Apis florea
(dwarf honey bee)
: This is the smallest
of the three species
and is known as the
little bee. It builds
single combs, which
are very small. They
are found hanging
from bushes and
corners of roof.
1.c. Apis cerana indica
(indian honey bee) :
This is the common Indian
honey bee. Its size is
intermediate between A.
dorsata and A. florea. This
bee builds several parallel
combs, generally in
hollows of trees, on the
walls, inside wells, caves
and similar protected
spots. This is the only
Indian honey bee capable
of domestication.
The honeybees collect nectar from
various flowers. The nectar is swallowed
by the bees. In its stomach due to the
action of enzymes certain changes happen
to the nectar.
Later in the bee hive it is regurgitated and
stored in chambers as honey.

Apiculture or Bee keeping is the

technique of rearing honey bees for honey
and wax from their comb or beehives
Honey has a high nutritive value. Its
colour and smell varies in accordance with
the nectar collected from different flowers.
It is estimated that 200g of honey
provides as much nourishment as
11.5 litres of milk or 1.6kg cream or
330g meat.
One gram of honey provides
approximately 33k.cal of energy.

USES of HONEY and BEES WAX

Honey has laxative, antiseptic and
sedative characteristics.
It is used in Ayurvedic and Unani
systems of medicines.
It is helpful in building up the
haemoglobin of the blood.
It prevents cough, cold, and fever.
It cures ulcers on tongue and
alimentary canal.
It is also used in the preparation of
bread, cakes and biscuits.
Beeswax is also a natural secretion of
the worker bee from the glands located in
the abdomen.
It is used in the manufacture of
cosmetics, face creams, 229 paints,
ointments, insulators, plastic works,
polishes, carbon paper and many
other lubricants.
It is also used in microtomy for block
preparation of tissues.
Silk is another valuable product from the
insect world.
The silk is obtained as fine threads from
the cocoons of various species of
silkworms.
Sericulture is the scientific management
of production and marketing of natural silk
from silkworms

2. Silkworms
Mulberry silkworm -
Bombyx mori : This is
a completely
domesticated insect.
Since the natural food
of this worm is
mulberry leaves, it is
called mulberry silk
worm. The silk
produced by this moth
is white in colour. It is
called the mulberry
silk.
Types of Silkworms
Tasar Silkworm :
Antheraea paphia
This caterpillar feeds
on ber, oak, sal and
fig plants. The
cocoon produced by
this worm is smooth
and hard. It is of
hen’s egg size. The
cocoon yields
reelable, brown
coloured Tasar silk.
Types of Silkworms
Muga Silkworm:
Antheraea
assamensis: The
native place of this
species is Assam
where it has now
become a good
source of cottage
industry. The silk
produced by this
moth is known as
Muga silk.
Types of Silkworms
Eri Silkworm :
Attacus ricinii
The caterpillar of this
worm feeds on castor
leaves. The cocoons
of this worm have
very loose texture
and the silk produced
is called as Arandi silk
locally. The threads
are not glossy but
much durable
Types of Silkworms
The sericulture plays a significant role in
the rural economy of our country. The
Chinese have the credit of discovering
silk.
It was kept as a secret for several
centuries. India now occupies a unique
position in the world for its rich
sericigenous fauna to produce pure
mulberry silk as well as the three other
varieties of non-mulberry silks.
The raw silk is used in the manufacture of
woven materials, knitted fabrics and
garments.
It is also used in parachutes, parachute
cords, fishing lines, as sieves in flour
mills, insulation coil for telephones and
wireless receivers, and tyres of racing
cars.

Uses of silk
Another useful product we get from insects is lac.
Lac is the resinous protective secretion produced
by a kind of scale insect called Laccifer lacca.
They secrete a brown resinous substance called
the lac.
The minute red coloured larva of this insect,
settles on succulent shoots of the host plants.
While growing they secrete a resinous material
which covers them.
The twigs are harvested and the encrustations
scraped, dried and processed to yield the lac of
commerce.

3. Lac Insects
The important trees needed for lac
encrustation are the kusum, the Ber,
Palas, Babul and sal. These trees are
common in the western ghats.
 Lac is one of the most versatile natural resinous
material.
 It has a unique combination of properties which
render it useful in the plastics, electrical, adhesive,
leather, wood finishing and other industries.
 In the electrical industry it used in the form of
insulating varnishes and moulded insulators.
 It possesses very good adhesion to mica.
 It is an ingredient of varnishes, polishes, finishes
wood used for protective and decorative purposes.
 It is a principal ingredient of sealing wax. It is also
used in the manufacture of glazed paper, printing and
water proof inks, nail polishes, dental plates,
ammunition, bangles, wax crayons and optical frames.

Uses of Lac
 This category of insects includes all forms
which by their life activities help man in
controlling the plant and animal pests.
The most important of these helpful
insects are the insect feeding or
entomophagous forms including predators
and parasites. These are important in
maintaining a balance in insect
populations.

B. HELPFUL INSECTS
These are generally larger than their prey.
They can pounce upon and devour the prey
easily.
Among the insect predators, lady bird beetles
are more useful to the farmers and gardeners.
These small beetles are voracious and are
highly prolific and long-lived. Both larvae and
adults feed on a wide range of insects. Other
common and well known predators are Aphis
lions and ground beetles

1. Insect - Predators
Insect parasites are smaller than their hosts.
They live continuously for at least a part of
their lifecycle on or within the body of the
host.
The tachinid flies parasitize caterpillars,
beetles and other groups of insects.
The braconids are a large group of small
wasp-like insects that parasitize a wide range
of insects including plant lice and caterpillars.
Most group of insects are plagued by
ichneumon parasites.

2. Insect parasites
Employing insect predators and parasites
for controlling the population of insect
pests is known as biological control.

2. Insect parasites
Biological control
Insects play an important role in the
pollination of plants.
Bees, wasps, ants, butterflies, beetles and
thrips render valuable service in pollination.
The services of honey bees are needed in
the production of cultivated crops, such as
apples, pears, plums and vegetables.
Some plants like the yucca and smyrna fig
are completely dependent upon insects for
pollination.

Insects as pollinators
A number of insects feed on plants and
they may aid in keeping plant weeds
under control.
The most successful use of an insect in
the control of a plant was the introduction
of the caterpillar of a moth (Cactoblastis
cactorum) to control the prickly pear
(Opuntia spp) in Australia.

Other useful insects

Cactoblastis cactorum
Prawns, Lobsters and Crabs
The prawns are one of the most
economically important fishery organism
in the world.
It helps to earn a sizeable amount of
foreign exchange.
The prawns are the most esteemed food
among the marine food organisms.
Therefore, they are in great demand both
in the local and international markets.

A. PRAWNS
Export of ‘prawn pulp’ to Burma and Malaya
from earlier times and ‘frozen and canned’
prawns to USA and Japan in recent years has
made Indian prawns a major foreign-
exchange earner.
Apart from being a delicacy, prawns are a rich
source of protein and vitamins (A and D).
They contain considerable quantities of
glycogen and free amino acids in their
muscles imparting their flesh a sweet taste.
As they contain very little fat, they have
become a favourite protein food for the weight
conscious persons.
Penaeus indicus, P. monodon, P.
japonicus;
Metapenaeus dobsoni, M. monoceros
M. affinis, M. brevicornis,
Parapenaeopsis stylifera, P.
sculptilis,
Macrobrachium rosenbergii , M.
malcomsonii,
Palaeomon tenuipes and P. styliferus
Freshwater prawns inhabit rivers and lakes
across the entire country.
They migrate to brackish water for breeding.
Eg. Macrobrachium, Palaeomon.
Marine prawns occur in shallow coastal
waters. They form large shoals close to
malabar coast during the monsoon season.
Penaeus, Parapenaeopsis and Meta penaeus
are the important genera of the Indian coast.
The practice of rearing prawns as a
‘secondary crop’ between November and
April in the paddy fields along the coastal
areas in India should be a step towards
increased production of fresh water prawns.
Fresh prawns are packed in ice and sent
to inland markets for consumption.
Large specimens are frozen directly
between layers of ice.
Smaller varieties are boiled, shelled and
then packed between ice. Prawns are also
cured. This includes sundrying, salting and
pickling.
Lobsters belong to four main groups. They
are clawed or true lobsters, spiny or rock
lobsters, sand or slipper lobsters and coral
lobsters.
The lobsters of our country are called
spiny lobsters.
The economically important species of
spiny lobsters are Palinurus polyphagus P.
homarus, P. ornatus and P. versicolors

B. Lobsters
 Its food value (proteins 15-24 %) was realized following
the demand for lobsters in western countries.
 India is one of the prominent countries in spiny lobster
marketing.
 The main lobster landing centres in India are Mumbai,
Veraval, Kolachal, Tuticorin, Chennai, Mandapam and
Kozhikode. North west coast contributes 80-90 percent of
the landings with P. polyphagus being the dominant
species.
 On the west coast P. polyphagus and P. homarus are very
common and on the east coast P. polyphagus and P.
ornatus are common.
 In the Gulf of mannar the lobster fishery is confined to the
areas where coral reefs are present.
 The lobsters are caught throughout the year but the peak
fishing season is December to January
The lobsters are esteemed as good food
particularly in foreign countries. Therefore
most of the lobster catches are exported to
USA, Canada, UK, France, Spain, Belgium, Gulf
countries, Nepal and Singapore.
The Central Marine fisheries Research
Institute (CMFRI) has carried out studies on
fishery, recruitment, biology, physiology,
breeding, larval rearing and culture of
economically important spiny lobsters in India.
The crabs are decapod crustaceans. They
are characterised by the greatly enlarged
cephalothorax.
The abdomen in crabs shows sexual
dimorphism.
In males the abdomen is narrow.
In female crab the abdomen is broad.
and it carries eggs during breeding
season.

Crabs
There are nearly six hundred crab species
occurring in the Indian waters but only
very few of them are being used for food
purposes.
The important species of crabs supporting
the fishery are Matuta lunaris, Scylla
serrata, Portunus sanguinolentus, and
Charybdis cruciata.