She asked her husband to give her a grove of mulberry trees, where she could keep the worms that made these cocoons. She is credited with inventing the silk reel, which joins thin silk threads into a thicker thread strong enough for weaving. She is also credited with inventing the first silk loom. It is not known how much, if any, of this story is true, but historians do know that silk was first made in China. Leizu shared what she found out with others and the knowledge became common.
Reforesting
Reforesting is the process of replacing plants in an area where they have been cut down or destroyed. It usually refers to trees, but could include other types of plant life.
Reforestation is often needed after deforestation, when trees are cut down to make lumber.
Reforestation also regains back the homes of animals.
Moth
Moths are insects of the order Lepidoptera. They are closely related to butterflies, which evolved from them. They also have wings, just like butterflies. Most species of moths are active only at night. They can be told apart from butterflies in several ways. Moth antenna look like little feathers, and their wings are held flat on their backs when they are not flying.
Most Lepidoptera are moths. There are thought to be about 160,000 species of moths (nearly ten times the number of species of butterflies). Thousands of species are still to be described. Most moths are tiny: they are called micromoths or microlepidoptera. The large moths are much better known, but fewer. Most species of moths are nocturnal, but not all. There are crepuscular and diurnal species.
Moths, usually their caterpillars, are a major farm pest in many parts of the world. Caterpillars eat the plants that farmers grow and sometimes kill them. The caterpillar of the gypsy moth ("Lymantria dispar") causes great harm to forests in the northeast United States. In warm climates, the diamondback moth ("Plutella xylostella") is perhaps the most serious pest of cabbage crops.
Several moths in the family Tineidae have larvae which eat clothes and blankets made from natural fibres, such as wool or silk. They are less likely to eat materials containing some artificial fibres. They may be repelled by the scent of wood from juniper and cedar, by lavender, or by other natural oils.
Chemicals are the most effective way to keep moths away, but there are concerns about the chemicals being dangerous to people.
Some moths are farmed. The most important of these is the silkworm. It is farmed for the silk with which it builds its cocoon. The silk industry produces over 130 million kilograms of raw silk, worth about 250 million U.S. dollars, each year. Not all silk is produced by "Bombyx mori". There are several species of Saturniidae that also are farmed for their silk, such as the Ailanthus moth ("Samia cynthia" group of species), the Chinese oak silkmoth ("Antheraea pernyi"), the Assam silkmoth ("Antheraea assamensis"), and the Japanese silk moth ("Antheraea yamamai").
Moths will fly around bright objects, and appear to be attracted to light. Most scientists think that this is because moths use the light of the moon to help them fly in a straight line. The light from lamps confuses the moths.
Night-blooming flowers usually depend on moths (or bats) to pollinate them, and artificial lighting can draw moths away from the flowers, hurting the plant's ability to reproduce.
Moths usually pollinate night-blooming flowers because they are "nocturnal" (they rest during the day and come out at night). A moth uses its proboscis to collect nectar just like a butterfly does. However, moths do not always land on the flower to get the nectar: they often hover near the flower and flap their wings hard while they sip the nectar. Because of this, moth-pollinated flowers do not need a landing pad. In fact, some moth-pollinated flowers point downward, like the yucca flowers.
Nocturnal insectivores often feed on moths. Many bats, and some species of owls and some other birds eat moths. Moths are also a minor part of the diet of some lizards, cats, dogs, rodents, and some bears. Moth larvae are eaten by many birds, and are also vulnerable to parasitism by ichneumon wasps.
Many adult moths and larvae are protected by noxious substances eaten by the caterpillars. They advertise their foul taste in various ways. Warning colouration is visible by day, and some adult moths emit clicks which bats learn are warning signals.
Baculoviruses are double-stranded DNA viruses which parasitize insects. They are often used as biological control agents. They are members of the Baculoviridae, a family that is restricted to insects.
There is evidence that ultrasound in the range emitted by bats causes flying moths to make evasive manoeuvers because bats eat moths. Ultrasonic frequencies trigger a reflex action in the noctuid moth that cause it to drop a few inches in its flight to evade attack. Tiger moths also emit clicks which foil bats' echolocation.
Large and dramatic Moth species include:
Moths that are of economic significance include:
Other notable moths:
Cocoon
A cocoon is a shell made of silk by most kinds of moth caterpillars and other insect larvae. Some butterfly larvae (in the family Hesperiidae and subfamilies Parnassiinae and Satyrinae) do spin cocoons. However, most butterfly pupae are called chrysalids. Some caterpillars attach small twigs or pieces of vegetation to the outside of their cocoon to hide it from predators. Others spin their cocoon in a hidden place. Examples would be on the underside of a leaf, in a crevice, or down near the base of a tree trunk.
Silkworm cocoons are processed and used to produce natural silk for clothing.
Proctor Silex
Proctor Silex Co. was created in 1960 with the merger of Proctor Electric and Silex Corporation. The company made household appliances such as toasters, irons, and coffee makers. In 1990 Proctor Silex merged with Hamilton Beach.
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre was a school shooting and attempted bombing at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, near Denver, that happened on April 20, 1999. Eighteen-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold carried out the massacre and were both students at the school. They murdered 12 students and one teacher using guns. Ten of the murders happened in the school's library, where they then killed themselves with their guns. Before the shootings, they had planted two large propane bombs in the school's cafeteria. They could have killed many people in there, but they did not explode. They also planted two car bombs in the school's parking lot, which were supposed to kill first responders and news reporters. They also did not explode. They also carried pipe bombs and molotov cocktails, which they lit and threw. Most of them exploded but nobody was injured or killed by any of the bombs used during the massacre.
It was one of the first well-known massacres at a school in the United States, and the one with the most deaths until the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007.
After the shooting, many people wanted to know why it had happened. Many people thought that Klebold and Harris had done it because they were bullied, and schools in the United States began talking about how to stop bullying. However, it is now thought that Klebold and Harris were bullies themselves. Other people blamed parts of the media, saying that the lyrics of bands and singers like Marilyn Manson and violent video games that the shooters played might have caused it.
In 2002, filmmaker Michael Moore released a documentary movie called "Bowling for Columbine" that was about why the shooting happened and about the role guns have in American culture. In the movie, Moore interviewed Marilyn Manson.
Many impromptu memorials were created after the shooting. Memorials included victims Rachel Scott's car and John Tomlin's truck.