Chapter 24 Section 3 Studies on the Habits of Insects

The debate on the bollworm issue has lasted for about 2,000 years in my country. The earliest, and "Erya", both have the poem "Bollworm (referring to Lepidoptera insects) has a child, and Lily (referring to the slender-waisted wasp) bears it", which means that the larvae of the bollworm was hunted away by the slender-waisted wasp.This was originally just a description of a natural phenomenon (Figure 16).However, in the Han Dynasty, Yang Xiong distorted this in the book "Fa Yan" as: "The son of the moth dies, and when you meet a moth, tell it like me!"Be like me!After a long time, the son of the bollworm will become a caterpillar.This kind of erroneous statement has always been recognized by some scholars, such as Zheng Xuan's "Book of Songs", Xu Shen's "Shuowen Jiezi", Lu Ji's "Mao Poems Vegetation, Wood, Birds, Animals, Insects and Fish", Guo Pu's "Erya Notes", Zhang Hua's " Natural History", Lu Dian's "Pi Ya", Su Song's "Tu Jing Materia Medica" and other blind support.On the other hand, there have always been those who object to this argument.As early as the early 6th century, Tao Hongjing put forward correct opinions based on his own observations and experiments.He found that there are many species of slender-waisted wasps, one has a black color, a very thin waist, and a muddy nest, which lays eggs as big as corn. They catch more than 10 green spiders and put them in the nest, and grow up as offspring When the food, finally seal up the nest.The other makes a nest in the reed bamboo, and also captures caterpillars as food for offspring.Tao Hongjing pointed out: Slender-waisted wasps have male and female, and have their own offspring. The so-called saying "take the caterpillar and teach them to make them their own sons" is wrong.Since then, people have continued to make further observations and studies.In the 9th century AD, Duan Chengshi also discovered that the food prepared by Zi Ying for his son was indeed not limited to caterpillars, but also small spiders.Later, Kou Zongxi observed that bee eggs were laid on the captured insects.In 1063 AD, Peng Cheng discovered that Chi Ying had the phenomenon of assassinating bollworms.In 1582, Huangfu Qin observed that the bollworms in the nest were not dead, but unable to move.Li Shizhen made a summary in 1578 AD.In the late Ming Dynasty, another scholar, Wang Fuzhi, also personally verified and recorded the phenomenon he observed in "The Book of Songs", saying that the gnats are the same as the bees picking flowers and making honey to feed their offspring. Eat it, and when the solar eclipse is exhausted, your offspring will be able to fly.At the same time, seriously criticize those erroneous interpretations.This debate, which lasted for 2000 years, concentratedly reflects the serious scientific attitude and correct experimental methods of ancient Chinese scientists. (Figure 17)

There is a kind of parasitic fly, which was mentioned in the book "Erya" more than 2,000 years ago, and it is called "隃 [Xiang Xiang]".The ancients discovered the phenomenon of parasitic life in the production practice of sericulture.When Guo Pu in the Jin Dynasty wrote an annotation for "Erya", he said: "Gna" also has another name called "chrysalis".Why is clam called "chrysalis"?Look at the records in Lu Dian's "Pi Ya" in the Song Dynasty, and it will be clear. "Pi Ya" said: "The old saying is that the fly grows in the milk of the silkworm body, and the cocoon turns into a maggot. It is commonly called a clam, and it enters the soil as a fly." It turns out that the silkworm maggot fly is a pest of the silkworm. The body lays eggs, and when the silkworm larvae mature and pupate, the silkworm maggot eggs hatch into maggot fly larvae, the larvae bite through the cocoon and burrow into the soil, and soon emerge into a fly.Tan Zhenmo in the Ming Dynasty conducted observations in person.He said in "Tan Yu Diao Chong": "Tan (that is, Tan Zhenmo) personally tested it. It was not owned by the first silkworm, but it came out of the second silkworm cocoon. The first silkworm cocoons were all moths, and the second silkworm came out of the bitter cocoon. Ten The third is a moth, and the seventeenth is a maggot, and any fly with milk on the back of a silkworm will become a maggot, and it will come out after eating moths." He proved that the discoveries of the predecessors were correct.At the same time, it is also pointed out that the parasitism of parasitic flies on silkworms mostly occurs in the two silkworms, and 7/10 of the two silkworms are often parasitized.

Zhao Jingru in the Qing Dynasty made a detailed description of polymorphic silkworm flies.He said: "There is another kind of hemp fly. Although it does not eat silkworms, it is the most harmful. This kind of hemp fly is different from ordinary hemp flies. It has white wings and hairs all over its body. It has wide wings and looks like a vicious man. Its nature is quite spiritual. , it flies very fast. Every time it flies erratically, it will not stop lightly, and it will fly when it sees a shadow, and it is very difficult to catch. When it comes, it will lay a white egg, which is as thin as a gnat, two days later. The place turns black, and the maggots have entered the body of the silkworm. They eat the silkworm meat at the silk in the skin. The maggots are old in six days, and there are two black teeth in the mouth. The old maggots come out of the cocoon with two black teeth, and form a small hole, that is, the cocoon. Marijuana flies.” These records describe the morphology and parasitic habits of silkworm maggot flies in great detail.

The ancients also observed that some flies would parasitize the human body. "On the Causes and Symptoms of Various Diseases: Phenomenology of Golden Sores" says: If golden sores don't heal for a long time or if they are not bound properly, they will become internally corrupted and become worms.The "Surgical Heart Method" of the Qing Dynasty further analyzed the parasitism of this kind of sore-faced fly maggot, and pointed out that "flies smell dirty and gather together, so that maggots grow." Zhao Xuemin said several times in "Compendium of Materia Medica" that " "Eye myiasis" shows that in ancient Northwest China, fly maggots often parasitized in the eyes, causing eye myiasis, and in severe cases, blindness of the eyes can be caused. According to modern entomological research, it is possible.