Natural rubber at least showed promise as rubber sources, include the rubber fig ("Ficus elastica"), Panama rubber tree ("Castilla elastica"), various spurges ("Euphorbia" spp.), lettuce ("Lactuca" species), the related "Scorzonera tau-saghyz", various "Taraxacum" species, including common dandelion ("Taraxacum officinale") and Russian dandelion ("Taraxacum kok-saghyz"), and perhaps most importantly for its hypoallergenic properties, guayule ("Parthenium argentatum"). The term gum rubber is sometimes applied to the tree-obtained version of natural rubber in order to distinguish it from the synthetic version. The first use of rubber was by the indigenous cultures of Mesoamerica. The earliest archeological evidence of the use of natural latex from the
Lymire edwardsii Lymire edwardsii Lymire edwardsii, the rubber tree caterpillar or Edwards' wasp moth, is a moth of the subfamily Arctiinae. It was described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1881. It is found in southern Florida, United States. The wingspan is 35–40 mm. The wings are bluish gray. Adults are on wing year round. The larvae feed on "Ficus" species, including "Ficus pedunculata", "Ficus altissima", "Ficus aurea", "Ficus auriculata", "Ficus benghalensis", "Ficus benjamina", "Ficus continifolia", "Ficus elastica", "Ficus lyrata", "Ficus retusa" and "Ficus rubiginosa". They feed on leaf margins or create holes in the leaves. Full-grown larvae are pale yellow with four