Human interactions with insects

Human interactions with insectsinclude both a wide variety of uses, whether practical such as for food, textiles, and dyestuffs, or symbolic, as in art, music, and literature, and negative interactions including damage to crops and extensive efforts to control insect pests.
Academically, the interaction of insects and society has been treated in part ascultural entomology, dealing mostly with "advanced" societies, and in part asethnoentomology, dealing mostly with "primitive" societies, though the distinction is weak and not based on theory. Both academic disciplines explore the parallels, connections and influence ofinsectson human populations, and vice versa. They are rooted inanthropologyandnatural history, as well asentomology, the study of insects. Otherculturaluses of insects, such asbiomimicry, do not necessarily lie within these academic disciplines.
More generally, people make a wide range of uses of insects, both practical and symbolic. On the other hand, attitudes to insects are often negative, and extensive efforts are made to kill them. The widespread use ofinsecticideshas failed to exterminate anyinsect pest, but has caused resistance to commonly-used chemicals in a thousand insect species.
Practical uses includeas food,in medicine, for the valuabletextilesilk, fordyestuffssuch ascarmine, in science, where thefruit flyis an importantmodel organismingenetics, andin warfare, where insects were successfully used in theSecond World Warto spread disease in enemy populations. One insect, thehoney bee, provideshoney,pollen,royal jelly,propolisand an anti-inflammatory peptide,melittin; its larvae too are eaten in some societies. Medical uses of insects includemaggot therapyfor wounddebridement. Over a thousand protein families have been identified in the saliva of blood-feeding insects; these may provide useful drugs such as anticoagulants,vasodilators,antihistaminesandanaesthetics.
Symbolic uses include rolesin art,in music(withmany songs featuring insects),in film,in literature,in religion, and in mythology. Insectcostumesare used in theatrical productions and worn for parties and carnivals.
Ethnoentomology developed from the 19th century with early works by authors such asAlfred Russel Wallace(1852) andHenry Walter Bates(1862).Hans Zinsser's classicRats, Lice and History(1935) showed that insects were an important force in human history. Writers likeWilliam Morton Wheeler,Maurice Maeterlinck, andJean Henri Fabredescribed insect life and communicated their meaning to people "with imagination and brilliance".Frederick Simon Bodenheimer'sInsects as Human Food(1951) drew attention to the scope and potential of entomophagy, and showed a positive aspect of insects.Foodis the most studied topic in ethnoentomology, followed bymedicineandbeekeeping.
In 1968,Erwin Schimitschek[de]claimed cultural entomology as a branch of insect studies, in a review of the roles insects played infolkloreand culture includingreligion, food, medicine and the arts.In 1984,Charles Hoguecovered the field in English and from 1994 to 1997, Hogue'sThe Cultural Entomology Digestserved as a forum on the field.Hogue argued that "Humans spend their intellectual energies in three basic areas of activity: surviving, using practical learning (the application of technology); seeking pure knowledge through inductive mental processes (science); and pursuing enlightenment to taste a pleasure by aesthetic exercises that may be referred to as the 'humanities.'Entomologyhas long been concerned with survival (economic entomology) and scientific study (academic entomology), but the branch of investigation that addresses the influence of insects (and other terrestrial Arthropoda, includingarachnidsandmyriapods) in literature, language, music, the arts, interpretive history, religion, and recreation has only become recognized as a distinct field" through Schimitschek's work.Hogue set out the boundaries of the field by saying: "The narrative history of the science of entomology is not part of cultural entomology, while the influence of insects on generalhistorywould be considered cultural entomology."He added: "Because the term "cultural" is narrowly defined, some aspects normally included in studies of human societies are excluded."
Darrell Addison Posey, noting that the boundary between cultural entomology and ethnoentomology is difficult to draw, cites Hogue as limiting cultural entomology to the influence of insects on "the essence of humanity as expressed in the arts and humanities". Posey notes further that cultural anthropology is usually restricted to the study of "advanced", industrialised, and literate societies, whereas ethnoentomology studies "the entomological concerns of 'primitive' or 'noncivilized' societies". Posey states at once that the division is artificial, complete with an unjustified us/them bias.Brian Morris similarly criticises the way that anthropologists treat non-Western attitudes to nature as monadic and spiritualist, and contrast this "ingnosticfashion" with a simplistic treatment of Western, often 17th-century, mechanistic attitude. Morris considers this "quite unhelpful, if not misleading", and offers instead his own research into the multiple ways that the people ofMalawirelate to insects and other animals: "pragmatic, intellectual, realist, practical, aesthetic, symbolic and sacramental."
TheMillennium Ecosystem Assessment(MEA) report 2005 definesecosystem servicesas benefits people obtain from ecosystems, and distinguishes four categories, namely provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural. A fundamental tenet is that a few species of arthropod are well understood for their influence on humans (such as honeybees,ants,mosquitoes, andspiders). However, insects offerecological goods and services.TheXerces Societycalculates the economic impact of four ecological services rendered by insects: pollination, recreation (i.e. "the importance of bugs tohunting,fishing, and wildlife observation, includingbird-watching"), dung burial, andpest control. The value has been estimated at $153 billion worldwide.As the ant expertE. O. Wilsonobserved: "If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos."ANovasegment on the AmericanPublic Broadcasting Serviceframed the relationship with insects in an urban context: "We humans like to think that we run the world. But even in the heart of our great cities, a rival superpower thrives ... These tiny creatures live all around us in vast numbers, though we hardly even notice them. But in many ways, it is they who really run the show.The Washington Poststated: "We are flying blind in many aspects of preserving the environment, and that's why we are so surprised when a species like the honeybee starts to crash, or an insect we don't want, theAsian tiger mosquitoor thefire ant, appears in our midst. In other words: Start thinking about the bugs."
Human attitudes toward insects are often negative, reinforced bysensationalismin the media.This has produced a society that attempts to eliminate insects from daily life.For example, nearly 75 million pounds of broad-spectruminsecticidesare manufactured and sold each year for use in American homes and gardens. Annual revenues from insecticide sales to homeowners exceeded $450 million in 2004. Out of the roughly a million species of insects described so far, not more than 1,000 can be regarded as seriouspests, and less than 10,000 (about 1%) are even occasional pests.Yet not one species of insect has been permanently eradicated through the use of pesticides. Instead, at least 1,000 species have developed field resistance to pesticides, and extensive harm has been done to beneficial insects includingpollinatorssuch as bees.
During theCold War, theWarsaw Pactcountries launched a widespreadwar against the potato beetle, blaming theintroduction of the speciesfrom America on theCIA, demonising the species inpropagandaposters, and urging children to gather the beetles and kill them.
Entomophagyis the eating of insects. Manyedible insectsare considered a culinarydelicacyin some societies around the world, and Frederick Simon Bodenheimer'sInsects as Human Food(1951) drew attention to the scope and potential of entomophagy, but the practice is uncommon and even taboo in other societies. Sometimes insects are considered suitable only for the poor in the third world, but in 1975 Victor Meyer-Rochow suggested that insects could help ease global future food shortages and advocated a change in western attitudes towards cultures in which insects were appreciated as a food item.P. J. Gullan and P. S. Cranston felt that the remedy for this may be marketing of insect dishes as suitably exotic and costly to make them acceptable. They also note that some societies insub-Saharan Africaprefercaterpillarsto beef, while Chakravorty et al. (2011)point out that food insects (highly appreciated in North-East India) are more expensive than meat. The economics, i.e., the costs involved collecting food insects and the money earned through the sale of such insects, have been studied in a Laotian setting by Meyer-Rochow et al. (2008).In Mexico, ant larvae and corixid water boatman eggs are sought out as a form ofcaviarby gastronomes. In Guangdong, water beetles fetch a high enough price for these insects to be farmed. Especially high prices are fetched in Thailand for the giant water bugLethocerus indicus.
Insects used in food include honey bee larvae and pupae,mopani worms,silkworms,Maguey worms,Witchetty grubs,crickets,grasshoppersandlocusts.In Thailand, there are 20,000 farmers rearing crickets, producing some 7,500 tons per year.
Insects have been used medicinally in cultures around the world, often according to theDoctrine of Signatures. Thus, the femurs of grasshoppers, which were said to resemble the human liver, were used to treat liver ailments by the indigenous peoples of Mexico.The doctrine was applied in bothTraditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) and inAyurveda. TCM uses arthropods for various purposes; for example,centipedeis used to treat tetanus, seizures, and convulsions,while the Chinese Black Mountain Ant,Polyrhachisvicina, is used as a cure all, especially by the elderly, and extracts have been examined as a possible anti-cancer agent.Ayurveda uses insects such asTermitefor conditions such as ulcers, rheumatic diseases, anaemia, and pain. TheJatrophaleaf miner's larvae are used boiled to induce lactation, reduce fever, and soothe the gastrointestinal tract.In contrast, the traditional insect medicine of Africa is local and unformalised.The indigenous peoples of Central America used a wide variety of insects medicinally. Mayans usedArmy antsoldiers as livingsutures.The venom of theRed harvester antwas used to curerheumatism,arthritis, andpoliomyelitisvia the immune reaction produced by its sting.Boiledsilkwormpupae were taken to treatapoplexy, aphasy,bronchitis,pneumonia, convulsions,haemorrhages, and frequent urination.
Honey beeproducts are used medicinally inapitherapyacross Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and the Americas, despite the fact that the honey bee was not introduced to the Americas until the colonization by Spain and Portugal. They are by far the most common medical insect product both historically and currently, and the most frequently referenced of these ishoney.It can be applied to skin to treat excessive scar tissue, rashes, and burns,and as an eye poultice to treat infection.Honey is taken for digestive problems and as a general health restorative. It is taken hot to treatcolds,cough, throat infections,laryngitis,tuberculosis, and lung diseases.Apitoxin(honey bee venom) is applied via direct stings to relieve arthritis, rheumatism,polyneuritis, andasthma.Propolis, a resinous, waxy mixture collected by honeybees and used as a hive insulator and sealant, is often consumed bymenopausalwomen because of its highhormonecontent, and it is said to have antibiotic, anesthetic, and anti-inflammatory properties.Royal jellyis used to treatanaemia,gastrointestinal ulcers, arteriosclerosis,hypo- andhypertension, and inhibition of sexuallibido.Finallybee bread, or bee pollen, is eaten as a generally health restorative, and is said to help treat both internal and external infections.One of the majorpeptidesin bee venom,melittin, has the potential to treatinflammationin sufferers ofrheumatoid arthritisandmultiple sclerosis.
The rise ofantibiotic resistantinfections has sparked pharmaceutical research for new resources, including into arthropods.
Maggot therapyusesblowflylarvae to perform wound-cleaningdebridement.
Cantharidin, the blister-causing oil found in several families of beetles described by the vague common nameSpanish flyhas been used as anaphrodisiacin some societies.
Blood-feeding insects liketicks,horseflies, andmosquitoesinject multiple bioactive compounds into their prey. These insects have long been used by practitioners of Eastern Medicine to prevent blood clot formation or thrombosis, suggesting possible applications in scientific medicine.Over 1280 protein families have been associated with the saliva of blood feeding organisms, including inhibitors of platelet aggregation, ADP,arachidonic acid,thrombin, PAF, anticoagulants,vasodilators,vasoconstrictors,antihistamines, sodium channel blockers, complement inhibitors, pore formers, inhibitors of angiogenesis,anaesthetics, AMPs and microbial pattern recognition molecules, and parasite enhancers/activators.
Insects play an important role in biological research. Because of its small size, short generation time and highfecundity, the common fruit flyDrosophila melanogasterwas selected as amodel organismfor studies of thegeneticsof highereukaryotes.D. melanogasterhas been an essential part of studies into principles likegenetic linkage,interactions between genes,chromosomalgenetics,evolutionary developmental biology,animal behaviourandevolution. Because genetic systems are well conserved among eukaryotes, understanding basic cellular processes likeDNA replicationortranscriptionin fruit flies helps scientists to understand those processes in other eukaryotes, including humans.ThegenomeofD. melanogasterwassequencedin 2000, reflecting the fruit fly's important role in biological research. 70% of the fly genome is similar to the human genome, supporting theDarwiniantheory of evolution from a singleorigin of life.
Some hemipterans are used to producedyestuffssuch ascarmine(also calledcochineal). The scale insectDactylopius coccusproduces the brilliant red-colouredcarminic acidtodeter predators. Up to 100,000 scale insects are needed to make a kilogram (2.2 lbs) of cochineal dye.
A similarly enormous number oflac bugsare needed to make a kilogram ofshellac, a brush-on colourant and wood finish.Additional uses of this traditional product include the waxing of citrus fruits to extend their shelf-life, and the coating of pills to moisture-proof them, provide slow-release or mask the taste of bitter ingredients.
Kermesis a red dye from the dried bodies of the females of ascale insectin the genusKermes, primarilyKermes vermilio.Kermesare native to the Mediterranean region, living on the sap of thekermes oak. They were used as a red dye by the ancient Greeks and Romans. The kermes dye is a rich red, and has goodcolour fastnessin silk and wool.
Insectattributes are sometimes mimickedinarchitecture, as at theEastgate Centre, Harare, which uses passive cooling, storing heat in the morning and releasing it in the warm parts of the day.The target of this piece ofbiomimicryis the structure of the mounds oftermitessuch asMacrotermes michaelseniwhich effectively cool the nests of these social insects.The properties of theNamib desert beetle'sexoskeleton, in particular its wing-cases (elytra) which have bumps withhydrophilic(water-attracting) tips andhydrophobic(water-shedding) sides, have been mimicked in a film coating designed for the BritishMinistry of Defence, to capture water in arid regions.
Silkworms, the caterpillars and pupae of the mothBombyx mori, have beenreared to produce silkin China from theNeolithicYangshaoperiod onwards, c. 5000 BC.Production spread to India by 140 AD.The caterpillars are fed onmulberryleaves. The cocoon, produced after the fourth moult, is covered with a continuous filament of the silk protein,fibroin, gummed together withsericin. In the traditional process, the gum is removed by soaking in hot water, and the silk is then unwound from the cocoon and reeled. Filaments are spun together to make silk thread.Commerce in silk between China and countries to its west began in ancient times, with silk known from an Egyptianmummyof 1070 BC, and later to the ancient Greeks and Romans. TheSilk Roadleading west from China was opened in the 2nd century AD, helping to drive trade in silk and other goods.
The use ofinsects for warfaremay have been attempted in the Middle Ages or earlier, but was first systematically researched by several nations during the 20th century. It was put into practice by the Japanese army'sUnit 731in attacks on China during theSecond World War, killing almost 500,000 Chinese people withfleasinfected withplagueand flies infected withcholera.Also in the Second World War, the French and Germans explored the use ofColorado beetlesto destroy enemy potato crops.During theCold War, the US Army considered usingyellow fevermosquitoes to attack Soviet cities.
Insects have appeared in mythology around the world from ancient times. Among the insect groups featuring in myths are thebee,butterfly,cicada,fly,dragonfly,praying mantisandscarab beetle. Scarab beetles held religious and cultural symbolism inOld Egypt,Greeceand someshamanisticOld World cultures. The ancientChineseregardedcicadasas symbols of rebirth or immortality.In theHomeric Hymn to Aphrodite, the goddessAphroditeretells the legend of howEos, the goddess of the dawn, requestedZeusto let her loverTithonuslive forever as animmortal.Zeus granted her request, but, because Eos forgot to ask him to also make Tithonus ageless, Tithonus never died, but he did grow old.Eventually, he became so tiny and shriveled that he turned into the first cicada.
In an ancientSumerian poem, a fly helps the goddessInannawhen her husbandDumuzidis being chased bygallademons.Flies also appear onOld Babylonianseals as symbols ofNergal, the god of deathand fly-shapedlapis lazulibeads were often worn by many different cultures in ancientMesopotamia, along with other kinds of fly-jewellery.TheAkkadianEpic of Gilgameshcontains allusions todragonflies, signifying the impossibility of immortality.
Amongst theArrernte peopleofAustralia, honey ants and witchety grubs served as personal clan totems. In the case of theSan bushmenof theKalahari, it is thepraying mantiswhich holds much cultural significance including creation and zen-like patience in waiting.
Insects feature in folklore around the world. In China, farmers traditionally regulated their crop planting according to theAwakening of the Insects, when temperature shifts and monsoon rains bring insects out of hibernation. Most "awakening" customs are related to eating snacks like pancakes, parched beans, pears, and fried corn, symbolizing harmful insects in the field.
In theGreat Lakesregion of the United States, there is an annualWoollybear Festivalthat has been celebrated for over 40 years. The larvae of the speciesPyrrharctia isabella(commonly known as the isabella tiger moth), with their 13 distinct segments of black and reddish brown, have the reputation in common folklore of being able to forecast the coming winter weather.
There is a common misconception thatcockroachesare serious vectors of disease, but while they can carry bacteria they do not travel far, and have no bite or sting.Their shells contain a protein,arylphorin, implicated inasthmaand other respiratory conditions.
Among the deep-sea fishermen ofGreenockin Scotland, there is a belief that if a fly falls into a glass from which a person has been drinking, or is about to drink, it is a sure omen of good luck to the drinker.
Many people believe the urban myth that the daddy longlegs (Opiliones) has the most poisonous bite in the spider world, but that the fangs are too small to penetrate human skin. This is untrue on several counts. None of the known species of harvestmen have venom glands; their chelicerae are not hollowed fangs but grasping claws that are typically very small and definitely not strong enough to break human skin.
In Japan, the emergence offirefliesandrhinoceros beetlessignify the anticipated changing of the seasons.
In the BrazilianAmazon, members of theTupí–Guaranílanguage family have been observed usingPachycondyla commutataants during female rite-of-passage ceremonies, and prescribing the sting ofPseudomyrmexspp. for fevers and headaches.
The red harvester antPogonomyrmex californicushas been widely used by natives of Southern California and Northern Mexico for hundreds of years in ceremonies conducted to help tribe members acquire spirit helpers through hallucination. During the ritual, young men are sent away from the tribe and consume large quantities of live, unmasticated ants under the supervision of an elderly member of the tribe. Ingestion of ants should lead to a prolonged state of unconsciousness, where dream helpers appear and serve as allies to the dreamer for the rest of his life.
Both the symbolic form and the actual body of insects have been used to adorn humans in ancient and modern times. A recurrent theme for ancient cultures in Europe and the Near East regarded the sacred image of a bee or human with insect features. Often referred to as the bee "goddess", these images were found in gems and stones. An onyx gem fromKnossos(ancient Crete) dating to approximately 1500 BC illustrates a Bee goddess with bull horns above her head. In this instance, the figure is surrounded by dogs with wings, most likely representingHecateandArtemis– gods of the underworld, similar to the Egyptian gods Akeu and Anubis.
Beetlewingart is an ancient craft technique using iridescent beetle wings practiced traditionally inThailand,Myanmar,India,ChinaandJapan. Beetlewing pieces are used as an adornment to paintings, textiles and jewelry. Different species of metallic wood-boring beetle wings were used depending on the region, but traditionally the most valued were those from beetles belonging to the genusSternocera. The practice comes from across Asia and Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, Myanmar, Japan, India and China. In Thailand beetlewings were preferred to decorate clothing (shawls and Sabai cloth) and jewellery in former court circles.
The Canadian entomologistCharles Howard Curran's 1945 book,Insects of the Pacific World, noted women from India and Sri Lanka, who kept1+1⁄2inch (38 mm) long, iridescent greenish coppery beetles of the speciesChrysochroa ocellataas pets. These living jewels were worn on festive occasions, probably with a small chain attached to one leg anchored to the clothing to prevent escape. Afterwards, the insects were bathed, fed, and housed in decorative cages. Living jewelled beetles have also been worn and kept as pets in Mexico.
Butterflieshave long inspired humans with their life cycle, color, and ornate patterns. The novelistVladimir Nabokovwas also a renowned butterfly expert. He published and illustrated many butterfly species, stating:
It was the aesthetic complexity of insects that led Nabokov to rejectnatural selection.
The naturalist Ian MacRae writes of butterflies:
The photographerKjell Sandvedspent 25 years documenting all 26 characters of theLatin alphabetusing the wing patterns of butterflies and moths asThe Butterfly Alphabet.
In 2011, the artist Anna Collette created over 10,000 individual ceramic insects atNottingham Castle, "Stirring the Swarm". Reviews of the exhibit offered a compelling narrative for cultural entomology: "the unexpected use of materials, dark overtones, and the straightforward impact of thousands of tiny multiples within the space. The exhibition was at once both exquisitely beautiful and deeply repulsive, and this strange duality was fascinating."
TheAncient GreekplaywrightAeschylushas agadflypursue and tormentIo, a maiden associated with the moon, watched constantly by the eyes of the herdsman Argus, associated with all the stars: "Io: Ah! Hah! Again the prick, the stab of gadfly-sting! O earth, earth, hide, the hollow shape—Argus—that evil thing—the hundred-eyed."William Shakespeare, inspired by Aeschylus, hasTom o'BedlaminKing Lear, "Whom the foul fiend hath led through fire and through flame, through ford and whirlpool, o'er bog and quagmire", driven mad by the constant pursuit.InAntony and Cleopatra, Shakespeare similarly likens Cleopatra's hasty departure from theActium battlefieldto that of a cow chased by a gadfly.H. G. Wellsintroduced giantwaspsin his 1904 novelThe Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth,making use of the newly discovered growth hormones to lend plausibility to his science fiction.Lafcadio Hearn's essayButterfliesanalyses the treatment of the butterfly inJapanese literature, both prose and poetry. He notes that these often allude to Chinese tales, such as of the young woman that the butterflies took to be a flower. He translates 22 Japanesehaikupoems about butterflies, including one by the haiku masterMatsuo Bashō, said to suggest happiness in springtime: "Wake up! Wake up!—I will make thee my comrade, thou sleeping butterfly."
The novelistVladimir Nabokovwas the son of a professional lepidopterist, and was interested in butterflies himself.He wrote his novelLolitawhile travelling on his annual butterfly-collection trips in the western United States.He eventually became a leading lepidopterist. This is reflected in his fiction, where for exampleThe Giftdevotes two whole chapters (of five) to the tale of a father and son on a butterfly expedition.
Horror films involving insects, sometimes called "big bug movies", include the pioneering 1954Them!, featuring giant ants mutated by radiation, and the 1957The Deadly Mantis.
The Far Side, a newspaper cartoon, has been used by professor of Michael Burgett as a teaching tool in hisentomologyclass;The Far Sideand its authorGary Larsonhave been acknowledged by biologistDale H. Claytonhis colleague for "the enormous contribution" Larson has made to their field through his cartoons.
Some popular and influential pieces of music have had insects as their subjects. The FrenchRenaissancecomposerJosquin des Prezwrote afrottolaentitledEl Grillo(lit.'The Cricket'). It is among the most frequently sung of his works.Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakovwrote the "Flight of the Bumblebee" in 1899–1900 as part of his operaThe Tale of Tsar Saltan. The piece is one of the most recognizable pieces in classical composition. Thebumblebeein the story is a prince who has been transformed into an insect so that he can fly off to visit his father.The play upon which the opera was based – written byAlexander Pushkin– originally had two more insect themes: the Flight of the Mosquito and the Flight of the Fly.The Hungarian composerBéla Bartókexplained in his diary that he was attempting to depict the desperate attempts to escape of a fly caught in a cobweb in his pieceFrom the Diary of a Fly, for piano (Mikrokosmos Vol. 6/142).
Thejazzmusician andphilosophyprofessorDavid Rothenbergplays duets with singing insects including cicadas, crickets, and beetles.
In astronomy, constellations named after arthropods include thezodiacalScorpius, the scorpion,andMusca, the fly, also known as Apis, the bee, in the deep southern sky. Musca, the only recognised insect constellation, was named byPetrus Planciusin 1597.
"The Bug Nebula", also called "The Butterfly Nebula", is a more recent discovery. Known asNGC 6302is one of the brightest and most popular stars in the universe – popular in that its features draw the attention of a lot of researchers. It happens to be located in theScorpiusconstellation. It is perfectly bipolar, and until recently, the central star was unobservable, clouded by gas, but estimated to be one of the hottest in the galaxy – 200,000 degrees Fahrenheit, perhaps 35 times hotter than the Sun.
The honey bee played a central role in the cosmology of theMayan people. The stucco figure at the temples of Tulum known as "Ah Mucen Kab" – the Diving Bee God – bears resemblance to the insect in the Codex Tro-Cortesianus identified as a bee. Such reliefs might have indicated towns and villages that produce honey. Modern Mayan authorities say the figure also have a connection to modern cosmology. Mayan mythology expert Migel Angel Vergara relates that the Mayans held a belief that bees came from Venus, the "Second Sun." The relief might be indicative of another "insect deity", that of Xux Ex, the Mayan "wasp star."The Mayan embodied Venus in the form of the god Kukulkán (also known as or related toGukumatzandQuetzalcoatlin other parts of Mexico), Quetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity whose name inNahuatlmeans "feathered serpent". The cult was the first Mesoamerican religion to transcend the old Classic Period linguistic and ethnic divisions. This cult facilitated communication and peaceful trade among peoples of many different social and ethnic backgrounds.Although the cult was originally centered on the ancient city of Chichén Itzá in the modern Mexican state of Yucatán, it spread as far as the Guatemalan highlands.
Bee and other insect costumes are worn in a variety of countries for parties, carnivals and other celebrations.
Ovois an insect-themed production by the world renowned Canadian entertainment companyCirque du Soleil. The show looks at the world of insects and its biodiversity where they go about their daily lives until a mysterious egg appears in their midst, as the insects become awestruck about this iconic object that represents the enigma and cycles of their lives. The costuming was a fusion of arthropod body types blended with superhero armour. Liz Vandal, the lead costume designer, has a special affinity for the world of the insect:
The Webby award-winning video seriesGreen Pornowas created to showcase the reproductive habits of insects. Jody Shapiro and Rick Gilbert were responsible for translating the research and concepts thatIsabella Rossellinienvisioned into the paper and paste costumes which directly contribute to the series' unique visual style. The film series was driven by the creation of costumes to translate scientific research into "something visual and how to make it comical."