Insects in The Crossroads of Asia Insects, Art & Culture Silk Moths

• Bombyx mori “silkworm of the mulberry tree” • Only domestic insect • Discovered 2,700 BC • 2,000–3,000 cocoons needed for 1 lb. silk! Discovery of Silk

Xi Ling-Shi, Wife of the Yellow Emperor “Goddess of Silk” Lifecycle Sericulture

• Raising silkworms for raw silk • Silkworms feed on mulberry leaves • 1 cocoon = silk thread up to 3,000 ft long • 10 billion pounds of mulberry leaves  70 million pounds of silk China’s Silk Road

• World’s Largest Highway - 5,000 miles long • Goods exchanged many times along road • Ideas: plow, paper, Buddhism • Imports: gold, gems, ivory / Exports: silk, furs, spices, jade Eating Silkworms

Fried Thailand

Boiled & Seasoned Roasted Korea China Dragonflies

• 5,000 species • start life in water • long slender body • 4 straight wings • 2 large eyes • many colors Dragonfly Lifecycle Emblem of Summer China Instability & Weakness China Pet Dragonflies China Happiness, strength, & courage Japanese Victory Insect Japanese motif Red dragonflies help return the dead home. Japanese Buddhist Lonesomely clings the Dragonfly to the underside of the leaf Ah! The Autumn Rain.

Poetry

Japanese Dragonfly Akitsushima Series Art (Isle of the Dragonfly) Japan “Dragonfly Kingdom” Japan “Akitsushima” = Dragonfly Island • 1st dragonfly nature reserve Crickets • 900 species • active at night • long antennae • ovipositor • calling & courting songs • live ~100 days • eat grains, like rice & corn Lifecycle of a Cricket Singing Crickets

Cricket Scraper Mirror ear Singing “Crickets” Tree Cricket China & Japan Oecanthus indicus

Longwinged Katydid Mecopoda elongata

Japanese Bell Cricket (Cicada) Homoeogryllus japanicus

"The Cricket Cage Peddlar", Kiyonaga, ca. late 1700's Intelligence & Good Luck China

Crickets for Sale Autumn, Loneliness & Sadness China

What’s the matter with the crickets? Their sad melodies fill the night… Climate Change China Cricket Fighting China • Winners are named “General” • Originally the sport of Emperors, still common today • Betting • Memorialized Fighting Crickets

“According to Chinese Folklore, when two male crickets engage in combat, the looser will refuse to fight again unless he’s shaken and tossed in the air by his trainer.” Singing Cricket Artwork Kiyokata Kaburagi 1878-1973 Japan Poetry China

The Singing Cricket chirps throughout the long night, tolling in the cloudy autumn with its rain. Intent on disturbing the gloomy sleepless soul, the cricket moves towards the bed chirp by chirp. by Bei Ju-Yi Tang Dynasty Impact of Insects

Cultural Traditions Food for Humans & other Animals Ecological Importance - Crop Damage - Pollination Products (e.g., silk, dyes, wax)