The medicinal value of insects (insects that are beneficial to humans can cure diseases and save liv

As a class in the animal kingdom, insects occupy an important place in Chinese medicinal materials. Among the documents handed down from ancient times, the earliest medical book recording the medicinal value of insects is the "Shen Nong's Materia Medica", which is the pharmacopoeia used in the study of medicine in ancient China. There are 365 kinds of medicines in "Shen Nong's Materia Medica", and 29 kinds of "insects" (in a broad sense) are recorded as medicinal, of which 21 kinds are insects. These 21 kinds of insecticides are divided into three grades: upper, middle and lower. The top grade is non-toxic, including: stone honey, bee honey, beeswax, and mulberry; the middle grade is non-toxic or poisonous, including honeycombs, grasshoppers, and white zombie silkworms; the lower grade is multi-toxic, including: grubs, caddis flies, and sparrow urns. , pheasant, cantharides, mole crickets, ground galls, fireflies, silverfish, wood flies, cock flies, cockroaches, insects.

Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" expanded the broad term "insect" medicine to 106 types, of which 73 were insect medicines, divided into three categories: "oviparous", "metamorphic" and "moisturizing". In the Qing Dynasty, Zhao Xuemin added 32 kinds of animal medicines in the "Compendium of Materia Medica", 11 of which were insects.

In total, among animal medicines, there are more than 100 species of insects and their products. Some insects have very high medicinal value and play an important role in treating and preventing diseases, nourishing and keeping fit, and prolonging life of humans. Here are some commonly used medicinal insects:

1. Cordyceps sinensis

After the larvae of bat moth insects are infected and die by a fungus of the genus Cordyceps in autumn and winter, a horn-shaped stromatolite of the genus Cordyceps fungus grows from the head of the larvae in the second summer, which is Cordyceps sinensis. Dig it before and after the summer solstice, remove the soil and dry it in the sun or oven. For raw use. It has the effects of nourishing the kidneys and lungs, stopping bleeding and resolving phlegm. It is used for chronic cough, deficiency and asthma, labor-related cough with bloody phlegm, repeated impotence and spermatorrhea, and soreness in the waist and knees. It can be taken alone soaked in wine, or stewed with chicken, duck, pork, etc. It has a tonifying effect on physical weakness after illness, spontaneous sweating and chills. It also has a certain auxiliary therapeutic effect on tumors such as lung cancer.

2. Native dog (mole cricket)

The native dog belongs to the order Orthoptera, an insect of the family Molecidae. Not completely perverted. Collect live mole crickets, bury them in lime, kill them and dry them to become the traditional Chinese medicine. Because the body of the dried mole cricket is tightened, its head is bent toward the abdomen, and its six legs are tightly hugged; it looks like a lying dog, so it is named native dog. Earth dog has diuretic, swelling and detoxification effects. Oral administration can treat edema, dysuria, stranguria, bruises and other symptoms. External use can treat abscesses and swelling.

3. Mulberry octopus

Mulberry mantises are egg masses produced by insects of the order Mantis. The egg masses adhere to tree branches or walls, so they are called mulberry octopus; those laid on the branches of mulberry trees are called mulberry octopuses. In late autumn and early winter, the leaves are clearly visible after falling off and are easy to harvest. Remove the branches, soak the eggs in boiling water, steam them thoroughly and dry them in the sun or roast them for later use. It has the effects of nourishing the kidneys, supporting yang, consolidating sperm and reducing urination. Commonly used for enuresis, frequent urination and other symptoms.

4. Ground beetle (worm)

The insect is the female adult of insects of the order Blattidae and the family Blattidae. Not completely perverted. Commonly known as ground beetle, earth beetle, and earth element. There are three types of ground soft-shell bugs used medicinally: Chinese ground soft-shelled turtle (Chinese medicine name: Su Tuyuan), Ji ground turtle (Chinese medicine name: Da Tu Yuan), and Oriental platypus (Chinese medicine name: Phnom Penh Da Tu Yuan). In the past, manual collection alone could not meet the needs, but now artificial breeding has been successful. It has the effect of breaking blood and removing blood stasis, rejuvenating tendons and bones. It is used for amenorrhea, postpartum blood stasis, and abdominal mass. It can also be used for fractures, injuries, stasis pain, and waist sprains.

5. Cicada slough (chanyi)

Cicada slough is the skin shed by the mature nymphs of cicada. Cicadas belong to the order Homoptera, family Cicadae, and are insects with incomplete metamorphosis. Cicada nymphs live underground. When mature nymphs are about to emerge, they crawl out of the ground and climb up tree trunks to shed their skin for the last time and become adults. In summer and autumn, it is easy to pick cicada sloughs from trees or branches, remove soil impurities and dry them in the sun. Cicada slough is tasteless and slightly cold in nature. It has the effects of dispelling wind-heat, clearing rash, relieving nebula tomorrow, calming wind and relieving spasm. It has obvious antipyretic effect on the head and feet, and has the strongest antispasmodic effect on the chest and abdomen. It is used for symptoms such as exogenous wind-heat, headache, and children crying at night.

6. Cicada flower

Cicada nymphs are cicada nymphs in the soil that are parasitized and killed by the conidia of the ergot fungus Cicada grandiflorum. On their heads are hyphae-formed spores, which look like flower buds, hence the name cicada. "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "When you come out of Shu, there is a corner on the cicada, like a flower crown, which is called a cicada flower." Cicada flowers have the functions of dissipating wind, dissipating heat, and calming jitters. It can cure night crying, epileptic convulsions and gynecological diseases in children.

7. Nine-scented insect

The nine-scented insect is a terrestrial insect with incomplete metamorphosis in the order Hemiptera and the family Styrinidae. For medicinal purposes, the dried whole insect is used. After catching in winter and spring, put it into a jar, cover it tightly with wine and suffocate it to death (or scald it to death with boiling water), take it out and dry it in the sun or oven, or stir-fry it over a slow fire before use. It has the effects of promoting qi and relieving pain, warming the kidneys and supporting yang. It can treat symptoms such as abdominal distention, abdominal pain, epigastric pain, and kidney yang deficiency.

8. Cantharis

Cantharidin is an insect of the order Coleoptera and the family Corianderidae. Completely perverted. Catch them in summer and autumn, suffocate them in jars and dry them in the sun. Remove the head, feet and wings at the same time. Use it raw, or fry it with glutinous rice until it turns yellow and black, remove the rice and grind the insect body into powder for use. It has the effect of attacking poisonous ulcers, breaking blood and dispersing stagnation. Since ancient times, insects have been dried and ground into powder, which has been used as a medicinal agent (foaming agent, diuretic) for carbuncle, ringworm, rabies bites and other diseases. Cantharidin contains strong cantharidin in its body, which is very toxic. External application can cause skin blistering, so it has the effect of attacking poisonous ulcers. For example, "Renzhai Zhizhi Prescription" states that to treat carbuncle, which is hard and swollen but not broken, grind the processed insect body into powder and pound it into a paste with garlic. Apply a small amount and apply it, and the medicine will be removed as soon as the pus comes out. "The Dacheng Theory of Medical Prescriptions" says that 21 cantharides and one spoonful of glutinous rice should be fried three times. After frying, the cantharides should be removed. Use rice as powder and mix it with cold water on an empty stomach to treat rabies bites. Another example is the prescription of "Dictionary of Chinese Medicine": dig a small hole with an egg, put in one to three processed cantharis with the head, feet and wings removed, roast them and remove the cantharis, eat one egg every day to cure the disease. Liver cancer, stomach cancer. However, when using cantharidin drugs, whether for external use or oral administration, you should follow the doctor's advice and do not use them on your own initiative, because cantharis is too toxic.

9. Golden swallowtail butterfly (fennel insect)

The butterfly belongs to the family Papilionidae of the order Lepidoptera and has complete metamorphosis. Golden swallowtail butterflies are widely distributed throughout the country. In spring and autumn, their larvae (fennel worms) are caught, drunk with wine, dried and ground into powder. The effect of this product is to warm the body, dispel cold, regulate qi and relieve pain. It can cure stomach problems, small intestinal gas, etc.

10. White Bombyx silkworm

Beauveria bassiana is a fossilized insect that causes death of silkworm larvae due to infection with Beauveria bassiana before spinning silk. Silkworms belong to the order Lepidoptera and are insects of the family Silkmothidae, with complete metamorphosis. The white silkworm used as medicine is dried and used raw or fried. It has the effects of calming wind and relieving spasm, dispelling wind and relieving pain, detoxifying and resolving stagnation. White Bombyx silkworm can cure stroke and aphonia, and can be used for headaches, red eyes, sore throat, windworm toothache, phlegm cough, boils and erysipelas caused by wind-heat and liver-heat.

11. Silkworm excrement

Silkworm excrement is the feces of silkworm larvae. After collection, dry it in the sun and pick out the impurities. It has the effect of dispelling wind and dampness, harmonizing the stomach and resolving turbidity. It is used for rheumatic arthralgia, limb paralysis, eczema and itching. In addition, the skin of silkworm chrysalises and larvae (silkworm clothing) can also be used as medicine.

12. Gnats

Gnats are insects of the order Diptera and the family Gnidae. Completely perverted. The horsefly used for medicine is the female adult body. In May and June, you can go to the pasture to catch them, scald them in boiling water or steam them briefly, and then dry them in the sun. Use raw or fried. It has the effect of breaking blood and removing blood stasis. It is used for blood stagnation, amenorrhea, mass accumulation, bruises and other symptoms.

13. Dew hive

It is an empty nest or a nest including bee pupae of a bumble bee in the order Hymenoptera, family Longipidae. When collecting, smoke should be burned to disperse the bee swarms, then the hives should be picked, dried or steamed, and the dead pupae and bees should be taken out and cut into small pieces. Use raw or fried. It has the effects of attacking poison, killing insects and dispelling wind. Used for carbuncle, toothache, ringworm and other diseases.

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