Stars, Stripes, and Six Legs
- Christopher Brown
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Happy 4th of July! In the US, today is a day of fireworks, barbecues, and being around friends and family. I’ve always been especially excited about this holiday because it’s accompanied by sunny days, warm nights, and a break from academic pursuits. In spite of all the sparkling, whistling, sizzling celebration, I can’t help but to think about insects and their connection to this very American holiday.
Infamous Ink
Probably my most-used fun fact has to do with the Declaration of Independence. I doubt that Nicolas Cage was aware that the document he worked so hard to steal was written using an insect-based ink. In 1776, the Continental Congress put Timothy Matlack, a clerk of the Pennsylvania State House, to the task of writing out this prolific document. Iron gall ink was the standard in these times, and would have been prepared using iron scraps, a gum as a binder, a colorant, and tannic acid from oak galls. This ink was light until applied to the paper, where it would oxidize purple-black, and over time has faded to the warm brown color that remains to this day (Ritzenthaler & Nicholson, 2016).
Oak galls, also known as oak apples, are vegetative growths caused by chemicals released by insects. In the case of oak galls, Cynipid wasps will lay their eggs in new leaf buds where the larvae will feed and develop. The chemicals they release cause the gall to form, which provides protective housing until the larvae are ready to emerge. In North America, Amphibolips confluenta are common in the east and Atrusca bella in the west (Cranshaw, 2004). While Gall Wasps (Cynipidae) are known for their gall forming, Gall Midges (Cecidomyiidae) (which are flies), Aphids (Aphididae), Phylloxerans (Phylloxeridae), Jumping Plant Lice (Psyllidae), Sawflies, Moths, and Beetles have been known to do the same.
A Presidential Pastime
While the Obama’s dog decision was highly publicized, I doubt the first pets of President James Monroe and the first lady Louisa received as much public attention. Serving as the president between 1925-1829, James Monroe adopted his wife’s interest in rearing silkworms (Bombyx mori). Though the president was mostly interesting in observing, the first lady Louisa found comfort raising silkworms on the mulberry trees that grew around the whitehouse. She would harvest their silk and use it in her sowing as a means to cope with the depression that she struggled with (presidentialpetmuseum.com).
The luxury fabric that TikTok claims is ideal for pillowcases is actually produced by a caterpillar. Sericulture, the practice of farming silk, begins by incubating silk moth eggs until the silkworms emerge. These caterpillars feed on mulberry leaves and progress through their instars over the next 4-6 weeks, growing rapidly. Once large enough, the silkmoth will spin a cocoon from a continuous silk filament that unravelled can span 1,000 to 3,000 feet. In traditional sericulture, the larvae are euthanized using steam or boiling water to prevent them from metamorphosizing. The silk then must be softened, unwound, and then multiple threads reeled into a single silk thread. In alternative methods like like production of Peace or Ahimsa Silk, the moths are allowed to emerge. When they exit their cocoons, they break the once continuous thread. These shorter threads must be spun in different ways, resulting in a different texture than conventional silk (Manito, 2025).
A Different Kind of Fire Show
Fireflies are kind of nature’s firework, and they share a lot in common. They both come around when the weather is warm, they capture our imagination, and they both look terrible on a cellphone camera. Fireflies, which are actually beetles in the family Lampyridae, produce light through a chemical reaction between a pigment called luciferin and an enzyme called luciferase. Interestingly, this reaction is 100%, meaning that all energy is released as light and none as heat (Ford, 2019).
Quickly, I need to address the firefly v. lightning bug debacle. To get out ahead of it, they’re two common names that describe the same group of insects. There seems to be some correlation between regions of the united states most afflicted by wildfires (the firefly side) and areas of the US with a higher concentration of lightning strikes (the lightning bug side) (Abadi, 2018).
Not every species can glow, and those that can use a specific flashing pattern to communicate to mates. The males will send out a call pattern, and a female will return a species specific pattern, allowing the two to find each other (Lewis, 2016). The females of some species are extra hardcore, and will mimic the return patterns of other species to lure in unsuspecting males which they then eat (Eisner et al., 1997)
If you’re interested in Fireflies, Dr. Lewis has a great blog (and book) with lots of photos and interesting stories for the beetle curious.
Buzz Kills
Probably the least enjoyable part of the fourth is the skeeters. July is the peak season for these little buggers, due to the high temperatures and rain in previous months. Few people recognize that it is only the female mosquitos that bite, they’re the ones that need the protein to lay eggs. Mosquitos are horrifyingly adept at finding you; They can detect the carbon dioxide you exhale from 60 to 75 feet away. Once closer, they also home in on body heat, movement, and chemicals in your sweat, like lactic acid (Chandel et al., 2024). Once they find you, these hungry females use their needle-like proboscis to pierce your skin. Though this sharp mouthpart may look like a single tool, it’s made up of six stylets specially designed to draw blood (Zahran, 2022).
Once sated, these females will look for still water to lay their eggs in or near. The time for a mosquito to develop from egg to adult can be as short as four days in the warm summer months. The larvae will hatch from these eggs and develop in the water, staying near to the surface so they can breathe through their tube-like siphons. Having fed on a sufficient amount of algae and microorganisms, the larvae will pupate before emerging as adults. Males live only a very short time after this, 6-10 days, while their bloodsucking counterparts will flit about for much longer, 2-4 weeks (nevadacountyca.gov)
Mosquito bites can be more than just painful and annoying, though relatively rare in the continental US mosquito bites can transmit certain diseases. Malaria is the most widespread globally, but mosquitoes also transmit Dengue, Zika, West Nile, Yellow Fever, and more. Some areas are more prone to these diseases due to the long warm seasons and amount of rainfall. As climate change shifts weather patterns, so too will the range and prevalence of these diseases migrate.
To prevent unnecessary mosquito bites, the CDC recommends using EPA registered insect repellent, wear protective clothing when outside, and take steps to remove standing water from around your property. Be wary of “natural insect repellents” as the EPA has not assessed their effectiveness, and don’t put all your eggs in the citronella candle basket.
While you’re out there grilling, swimming, and spending time with your families and friends, don’t forget the little critters that pollinate your summer gardens, light up your warm evenings, and suck your blood.
P.S. If you found this post interesting or would like to know more about insects and their role in the history, society, and culture of mankind be sure to check out Ento-History. This calendar that I've been working on can be easily added to your personal calendar and highlights important dates in the shared histories of insects and humans.
TL;DR - Independence day is for people, but I'm thinking about the bugs. Did you know the Declaration of Independence was written with wasp ink? Or that a first lady raised silk moths in the White House? Did you know some fireflies lure others in with their flashing to eat them? Or that mosquitos have six mouth parts? You do now.
References:
Abadi, M. (2018, July, 25). Some Americans say 'firefly' while others say 'lightning bug,' and a series of maps highlights an interesting theory why. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/firefly-lightning-bug-english-language-map-2018-7
Chandel A, DeBeaubien NA, Ganguly A, Meyerhof GT, Krumholz AA, Liu J, Salgado VL, Montell C. (2024) Thermal infrared directs host-seeking behaviour in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Nature. 2024 Sep;633(8030):615-623. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07848-5. Epub 2024 Aug 21. PMID: 39169183; PMCID: PMC11410652.
Cranshaw, Whitney (2004). Garden Insects of North America. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09560-4.
Nevada County (n.d.) FAQs. Nevada County California. https://www.nevadacountyca.gov/FAQ.aspx?QID=543
Ford, D. (2019, July 23). How fireflies glow – and what signals they're sending. NC State News. https://news.ncsu.edu/2019/07/how-fireflies-glow-and-what-signals-theyre-sending/
Lewis, S. (2016). Silent sparks: the wondrous world of fireflies. Princeton University Press.
MANITO. (2025, May 22). How is silk made: The journey from cocoon to fabric. https://manitosilk.com/blog/how-is-silk-made/
Presidential Pet Museum. (n.d.). John Quincy Adams' silkworms. https://www.presidentialpetmuseum.com/john-quincy-adams-silkworms/
Ritzenthaler, M. L., & Nicholson, C. (2016, Fall). The Declaration of Independence and the Hand of Time. The U.S. National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2016/fall/declaration
T. Eisner, M.A. Goetz, D.E. Hill, S.R. Smedley, & J. Meinwald, Firefly “femmes fatales” acquire defensive steroids (lucibufagins) from their firefly prey, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 94 (18) 9723-9728, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.94.18.9723 (1997).
Zahran N, Sawires S, Hamza A. (2022) Piercing and sucking mouth parts sensilla of irradiated mosquito, Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) with gamma radiation. Sci Rep. 2022 Oct 25;12(1):17833. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-22348-0. PMID: 36284127; PMCID: PMC9596698.
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