中国白蜡虫的养殖及白蜡的西传

The Culturing of Ericerus pela (Chavannes) in China and the Transmission of Chinese Wax into Europe

蚕、蜂与白蜡虫是中国著名的三大养殖昆虫。白蜡虫 [Ericeruspela (Chavannes) ]俗称蜡虫 ,白蜡(Cerachinensis,也称虫白蜡 )实即白蜡虫的分泌物 ,为中国特产。中国放养蜡虫 ,始於九世纪前 ,宋、元间已有正确详实的文献记载 ,至明时大盛 ,川滇、湖广、江浙均有养殖。在清朝及民国时期中国西南仍有大规模养殖 ,成为一种生产昆虫化工产品的“昆虫工厂”。在近代石油蜡与启前 ,中国白蜡 (Chinesewax)独放异彩 ,新近因昆虫蜡性质独特而优异 ,又有渐起之机。本文探讨了中国养殖蜡虫的历史和养殖蜡虫事业的发展和白蜡西传欧洲的过程 ,为进一步研究中国经济昆虫养殖史奠定基础。

Waxes are divided into animal, vegetable and mineral types. Animal waxes include beeswax, produced by the wax glands of bees and other insects. The Chinese wax scale [Ericerus pela (Chavannes)] is an insect which has been breed in China for commercial wax production for over a thousand years. The males of the Chinese wax insect are probably the best known wax producers. They secrete large amounts of pure white wax on host trees, such as Ligustrum lucidum (Aitton), Fraxinus chinesis (Roxburgh), etc. the technology used cultureing the wax scale was recorded in detail in a book published in the 13th century, but the production of insect wax can be dated back much further to the 3rd century A.D. Chinese wax scale was first introduced into Europe in 1615 and got its species name Coccidae pela in 1848, later modified to the present name.Chinese insect wax (Cera chinensis) farming is a lucrative and highly important business in the southwestern region of China, especially for the minority peoples.