Economic zoology deals with the application of zoological knowledge
for the benefit of mankind. It includes culturing animals for mass
production for human use and to control or eradicate animals that are
injurious to man directly or indirectly.
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF INSECTS
Without the activities of insects, human life on earth would eventually
be extinguished. Over one lakh currently living species of insects have
been identified, but the true number is surely much larger, about a
million.
BENEFICIAL INSECTS
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.
I. Productive Insects These insects produce certain substances
which are useful to humans. The important useful insect products
are Honey, Silk and Lac.
A. Honey bee
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. 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.
2. Apis florea : 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.
3. Apis indica : 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.
Uses of Honey and Bees wax
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 approxmately 33k.cal of energy. Honey has laxative,
antiseptic and sedative charcteristics. 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, paints, ointments, insulators, plastic works, polishes,
carbon paper and many other lubricants. It is also used in microtomy
for block preparation of tissues.
B. Silk worms
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.
Types of Silk worms
1. 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.
2. Tasar Silk worm : 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.
3. Muga Silk worm: 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.
4. Eri Silk worm : 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.
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 230 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.
Uses of silk
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.
C. Lac insects
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.
The important trees needed for lac encrustation are the kusum, the
Ber, Palas, Babul and sal. These trees are common in the western
ghats.
Uses of lac
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.
II. Helpful Insects
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 (An
entomophagous organism is one that eats insects) forms including
predators and parasites. These are important in maintaining a balance in
insect populations.
A. Pollinators of crops (Bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, hoverflies,
beetles)Many plants depend on insects to transfer pollen as they
forage. Plants attract insects in various ways, by offering pollen or
nectar meals and by guiding them to the flower using scent and visual
cues. This has resulted in strong relationships between plants and
insects. Value of crop production from pollination by native insects is
estimated to be about $3 billion in US alone.
When we talk about pollinators the ones that come to mind are honey
bees and butterflies, but there are also many other insects that perform
this job for flowering plants, as well. There are flies, wasps, beetles
and even some other insects that most people know nothing about,
such as Hemiptera and thrips. There are many important pollinating
insect species in the orders: Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants),
Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), Diptera (flies) and Coleoptera
(beetles).
B. Predators of pests (Dragonflies, beetles, bugs, lacewings, wasps)
The arthropod predators of insects and mites include beetles, true bugs,
lacewings, flies, midges, spiders, wasps, and predatory mites. Insect
predators can be found throughout plants, including the parts below
ground, as well as in nearby shrubs and trees. Some predators are
specialized in their choice of prey, others are generalists. Some are
extremely useful natural enemies of insect pests. Unfortunately, some
prey on other beneficial insects as well as pests.
Important insect predators include lady beetles, ground beetles, rove
beetles, flower bugs and other predatory true bugs, lacewings and
hover flies. Spiders and some families of mites are also predators of
insects and mite pests. Natural enemies play an important role in
limiting potential pest populations. We have seen what happens when
pesticides devastate the natural enemies of potential pests. Surveys of
agricultural systems give an indication of the potential number and
diversity of predators in a crop.
C. Parasites of pests (Hymenoptera and Diptera)
Parasitoids are insects with an immature stage that develops on or
in an insect pest host, and ultimately kills the host. Adults are
typically free-living, and may be predators. They may also feed on
other resources, such as honeydew, plant nectar or pollen. Because
parasitoids must be adapted to the life cycle, physiology and defenses
of their hosts, many are limited to one or a few closely related host
species. The most valuable insect parasites belong to the following
groups:
Tachinid Flies (Diptera)
Ichneumonid Wasps (Hymenoptera)
Braconid Wasps (Hymenoptera)
Chalcid Wasps (Hymenoptera)
These parasites live in or on one host insect pest which is killed after
the parasite completes its development. Parasite (also called
parasitoid) adults are free-living; the immature stage lives on or
inside a host and kills the host before the host completes its
development. Parasites lay one or more eggs on the outside of the
host body or they insert the eggs inside their host. The immature
parasite feeds on the host and requires only a single individual
prey to complete its development.
Free-living adults may feed on nectar from flowering plants or obtain
nutrients by piercing the body of host insects and withdrawing fluids
(host-feeding). Parasites are often considered more effective natural
enemies than predators because many have a narrower host range,
require only one host to complete development, have an excellent
ability to locate and kill their host and can respond rapidly to increases
in host populations.
Other useful insects
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.
6. 2 Harmful Animals
The harmful animals are those that cause injury to plants and domestic
animals. Human beings are affected directly or through bites or stings or
by transmission of various kinds of pathogens. The nature of harmful
insects ranges from simple nuisance value of cockroaches to spreading
of epidemic diseases, such as malaria, filariasis by mosquitos. For the
convenience of our study the harmful animals are grouped under the
following categories namely a.disease causing organisms, b.poisonous
animals, c. fouling organisms and d. pests.
6. 2. 1 Disease causing organisms (harmful insects) – Vectors
A biological vector is an organism that transmits the causative agent
or disease-causing organism from the reservoir to the host. Some
insects are injurious to man as vectors of human diseases. Through the
ages millions of people have died of dieases transmitted by insects.
There are a number of insect-borne diseases, and they may be
transmitted in different ways.
1. Housefly - Musca domestica
House flies are cosmopolitan in distribution. They are closely associated
with humans and thrive best where people are careless in the disposal of
wastes. Adult flies are non-parastic. They feed on all kinds of decaying
and decomposing matter. It is an important mechanical vector in the
transmission of diseases like typhoid (Salmonella typhosa - a
bactericum), dysentery (Entamoeba histolytica) and cholera (Vibrio sps.)
The housefly cause diseases through food contaminations.
Control : Housefly control is normlly done in 3 different ways, namely
sanitary, mechanical and chemical methods. Populations of houseflies
can be controlled by proper disposal of manure, garbage, sewage, food
waste, human excreta and other organic materials. Mechanical practices
such as screening, using of traps or sticky paper or baits can be valuable
in excluding houseflies. Insecticides may be used against larvae.
Spraying with 2% malathion 1% chlordane or lindane, 0.5% tremephos
are effective.
2. Sand flies - Phlebotomus papatasi
These flies are 4 mm long. Only the female possess piercing-sucking
mouth parts and are haematophagous. The males are non parasitic,
feeding on moisture. They are small slender insects with hairy bodies.
Through biting this fly transmits the disease called kala-azar. The
causative oraganisms is Leishmania, a parasitic protozoan. During
the day time, the flies remain hiding. At night they come out to feed.
The sand fly attacks during night times. The insect sucks the parasite
from an infected person, along with blood. In side the body of the fly,
the parasite undergoes changes. When an infected fly bites man, the
parasites pass into the blood and fresh infection is effected. The
parasites mostly concentrate in the capillaries of spleen, liver and
bone marrow. The disease is characterized by the symptoms like
anaemia and emaciation.
Control : Spraying of 5 % DDT / BHC easily kills the flies. The
pyrethrum ointment used on exposed part of the body works as a
repellent.
3. Rat fleas - Xenopsylla cheopis
The insect parasite, Xenopsylla cheopis is commonly known as the
Asiatic rat flea. Both male and female fleas take in the bacillus
Pasteurella pestis (Yersinia pestis (formerly called Pasteurella pestis)
is a short gram-negative rod that causes plague) from infected rats
during feeding. This rat - flea is responsible for the transmission of
plague from man to man, or from rat to man. When this bacterium is
introduced into the skin, the lymph glands become inflammed. This is
known as bubonic plague. Frequently, the bacilli become established in
the victims blood. The condition is then referred to as septicemic plague.
If the victim’s lungs become involved, it is referred to as pneumonic
Plague.
When the rat flea sucks the blood of man or a rat infected with plague,
the bacilli enter into its stomach and grow there into large numbers. The
flea thus heavily laden with the bacilli, may bite a healthy man and
introduce the bacilli into the wound and cause infection. The bacilli are
deposited by the flea on the skin along with the faeces. The bite of the
flea causes scratchings and the bacilli are introduced into the blood when
the skin is scratched.
Control : Destruction of rats and other rodents is an effective method.
Dusting of 1 to 2 % chloradane, or 2 % Y - BHC is very much effective
in the elimination of fleas on the body of pet animals. Application of 5%
DDT is recommended for spraying at the time of the spread of plague in
all the areas.
4. The human louse - Pediculus humanus:
Louse is a blood sucking ectoparasite of man. It is cosmopolitan in
distribution . The human louse is a major vector for three important
human diseases, relapsing fever, typhus and trench fever.
Disease - Parasite
Relapsing fever - Borrelia sp
Typhus - Rickettsia sp
Trench fever - Rickettsia sp
Control : Wearing clean clothes, and having regular bath avoids
infestation.
5. Mosquitoes : Anopheles, Culex, Aedes sp.
Mosquitoes are cosmopolitan in distribution. They are nocturnal in habit
and are found in abundance in damp, marshy lands near stagnant water.
Only female mosquitoes are adapted to suck the blood of human beings
and function as carrier of viral, protozoan and nematode diseases.
Culex mosquitoes serve as the vectors for filariasis or elephantiasis.
This disease is caused by the nematode parasite, Wuchereria bancrofti.
It is commonly known as filarial worm. It is found in the lymphatic
vessels and lymph glands of man. The female worms give birth to living
embryos known as microfilariae. The microfilariae normally circulate
at night(10 to 2 am) in the peripheral blood. At that time they are
ingested by the mosquito along with blood, the mosquito is not just a
mechanical carrier of the parasite. Developmental changes take place in
the body of the parasite. When the infected mosquito next bites another
person, the larvae penetrate the superficial skin to find their way into the
lymphatic vessels, and attain sexual maturity. In severe infection the
adults cause blocking of lymphatic system which results in the
enlargement of legs, arms, scrotum, and mammary glands. It is known as
elephantiasis.
The Anopheles mosquito transmits Plasmodium sp, a causative
protozoan for malaria
Another type of mosquito, Aedes transmits yellow fever through a virus.
6. 2. 2 Poisonous Organisms (Venomus animals)
Free living organisms have developed some device to protect themselves
against predators. These protective devices ranges from the simple
stinging cells of Physalia to the massive poison glands of the snakes.
The list of poisonous organisms is exhaustive. A remarkable number of
marine organisms, venomous animals produce venom in a specialized
gland. Venom is a mixture of mainly protein and peptide toxins.
In contrast, poisonous animals may have special glands that produce
toxins but more often accumulate toxic compounds from the
environment in their bodies. These substances are known as poisons and
have to be ingested to be effective because the animal has no specialized
organ to deliver them. They are further classified as neurotoxic,
hemotoxic, cytotoxic or myotoxic.
A few of the important venomous organisms are mentioned here.
Physalia
These are marine coelenterates. They are notorious for the painful sting
they can inflict on unsuspecting swimmers who accidently brush against
them. They attack using stinging cells on their trailing tentacles. Their
powerful stings cause painful local inflammation and can even be fatal.
Several species of true jelly fish are known to be poisonous. They
include sea nettle, hair jelly fish, blubber jelly fish, mauve stingers and
moon jelly fish.
Sea anemones are often found in tidal pools. They have numerous
nematocysts on their tentacles. Stings are characterized by local pains.
The pain may last for few hours and local tenderness may remain for
days.
Sea-stars only cause a minor traumatic injury. The animals are covered
with sharp rigid spines that can passively deliver a variety of substances
when they penetrate skin. The region may become dusky or discolored
particularly with multiple spine injuries.
Sea-cucumbers do not have a venom apparatus but direct contact may
induce a contact dermatitis. Injury to the cornea and conjunctiva may
cause intense inflammation.
Phylum Annelida includes the bristle worms. Their body is segmented
and covered with bristle like setae that become erect on contact. These
setae or spines detach from the worm and are able to penetrate human
skin. Initially there is a burning sensation followed by intense skin
inflammation. Localized safe tissue edema and itchiness may occur. In
some cases the effect may last for many weeks.
Two classes of mollusks have a venom apparatus the gastropods (cone
snails and nudibranchs) and the cephalopods (Octopi).
Scorpion.
In scorpion the sting is attached to the posterior part of the last segment.
It consists of bulbous base and a sharp curved barb that injects the
venom. The venom is produced by a pair of oval glands. The scorpion
raises the posterior abdomen over the body making it curved forward. A
stabbing motion is used in stinging. The venom of most scorpions is
sufficiently toxic to kill a vertibrate. The venom of the scorpion
Androctonus is equivalent in toxicity to cobra venom. The neurotoxic
venom of scorpions is very painful and may cause paralysis of the
respiratory muscles or cardiac failure in fatal cases. Anti venoms are
available for these species.
Centipede :
Centipedes are distributed throughout the world. They live in soil and
humus and beneath stones. The largest centipede is the tropical
American Scolopendra gigantea which may reach 26 cm in length. They
have a large pair of poison claws sometimes called maxillipeds. Each
claw bears a terminal pointed fang. The venom although painful is not
sufficiently toxic to be lethal to man even to small children. However S.
gigantea has been known to cause human death.
Honey bees and wasps
In worker honey bee (undeveloped females) the poisonous sting is
situated at the hind end of the body. It is a pointed structure provided
with minute hooks or barbs at its free end. On stinging the tip of sting
gets detached. Hence a bee can sting only once.
Unlike the bee the wasp is able to withdraw its sting from the wound.
Hence it can sting again. In wasp the sting is a modified ovipositor and
once it has penetrated the skin of the victim poison is injected as in a
hypodermic syringe. The wasp’s poison is a histamine.
The sting by honey bees and wasps lead to pain and inflammation.
Poisonous fishes
More than 700 species of fishes have poison glands. Venom in fishes is
of two kinds. One kind of venom is produced by specialized glands
which may occur in various parts of the body. In the second, the flesh
itself may secrete some toxic substance and the fish becomes poisonous
and inedible.
There are several poisonous cartilaginous fishes. The poison glands are
usually associated with a spine or sting as in the case of sting ray. In the
sting ray(Trygon), the poison glands lie along a lateral groove on each
side of the spine on its tail. The spine causes pain and numbness in the
flesh of victim.
The large Barracuda of Cuba and other tropical islands have poisonous
flesh, which when eaten cause pain in joints and extremities, nausea,
vomiting and general trembling.
The Puffer fish, (Tetrodon) is considered to be world’s most dangerous
fish. Its ovaries, intestine, kidneys, skin and eyes contain a neurotoxin
called Tetradoxin. This toxin has no antidote. It is several times deadlier
than cyanide. In a dilute form, tetradoxin is used as a pain killer for
victims of neuralgia, arthritis and rheumatism
Amongst Amphibians, toads are the only poisonous animals. They are
found all over the world except Madagaskar, New Guinea, New Zealand
and Polynesia. Their skin secretes the venom. It may be stored in the
parotid glands behind the eyes. Toxicity can occur if toad’s skin or
secretions are handled or ingested.
The lizard has a set of venom glands which can be found in the anterior
lower jaw. Heloderma suspectum and H. cinctum inhabit the
southwestern parts of the United States. H. horridum is native to Mexico
and Guatemala and is generally larger than the sub species found in U.S.
The lizard has a powerful bite, and the teeth may cause several small
puncture wounds in the skin of the victim.
Poisonous snakes Indian poisonous snakes are the cobras, the kraits, the
vipers and the sea snakes. These can be distinguisted from the non
poisonous by the tail, the arrangement and size of scales, plates and
shields found over the body.
Cobra : It is well known all over India. When provoked it raises its head
and expand the skin of the neck region in the form of a characteristic
hood. The hood may bear a spectacle mark. Such cobras are called two
ringed or spectacled forms. In others there is a oval spot surrounded by
an ellipse. These are known as the one ringed or monocled variety. They
are found in Bengal. In still others there is no mark on the hood. Only
two species of cobra are found in India. They are Naja naja (Indian
cobra) and Ophiophagus hannah (king cobra).
Krait : These are common poisonous snakes of India. There are two
common Indian kraits. They are the common krait (Bungarus coeruleus)
and the banded krait (B. fasciatus).
Vipers : There are two classes of vipers. Some have a distinct pit on the
sides of the head between the nostril and the eye in the region called
‘lore’. These are called pit vipers. The other one is the pitless
viper.Vipers are viviparous in nature. The vipers have movable upper
jaw, so that the fangs when not in use can be folded backwards. It gets
erected with the opening of the mouth while inflicting injury. It produces
a loud hissing sound by expelling air through nostrils. Pitless Viper -
Vipera russellir (Russell’s viper); Echis carinata (The little Indian
viper).; Pit viper - Trimeresurus sp
Sea Snakes : Sea snakes can always be distinguished from other snakes
by their laterally compressed tails. This is an adaptation to their life in
the sea. All sea snakes are highly poisonous. Eg. Hydrophis sp
Enhydrina sp
Snake Venom
There are two types of snake venoms. i. One type acts mainly on the
nervous system (neurotoxic). It affects the optic nerves (causing
blindness) or the phrenic nerve of the diaphragm (causing paralysis of
respiration). ii. The other type is haemolytic. It breaks down the red
blood corpuscles and blood vessels and produces extensive extravasation
of blood into the tissue spaces.
6. 2. 3 Fouling Organisms
Several aquatic organisms cause damages to submerged surfaces. Since
this infestation has an economical importance, several studies are being
made. Marine sedantary organisms may affect piles, floats, wooden dry
docks and boats. These organisms are called foulers. Most of these
organisms are distributed all over the world through the agency of ships.
They are of economic importance, since fouling of ships results in
increased resistance to movement through water, reducing the
efficiency, lowering of speed, increasing fuel consumption and leading
to wear and tear of engine. The efficiency of underwater sound
equipments fitted on to commercial and naval vessels is also seriously
affeceted as result of the accumulation of fouling organisms.
Members of the fouling community
The most important members of the fouling community include algae
and representatives from almost all the invertebrate groups and the
tunicata. Among the molluscs the mussels are the most important
foulers. They settle heavily, especially in the pipe systems carrying
seawater and obstruct the flow of water. Among Arthopoda, the
barnacles are the dominant representatives of the fouling community.
There are over 100 species of barnacles as foulers.
Poison is a toxin that gets into the body by inhaling, swallowing, or
absorption through the skin. Venomous: it's when the toxin is injected
into you.