Butterfly. Photo by Lu Gang
Spotted grey butterfly Mor subspecies. Photo by Zhu Lin
Jade spotted butterfly. Photo by Lu Gang
Mid-ring butterfly. Photo by Li Xiaoqing
Annunciation spotted butterfly south Asian species. Photo by Zhu Lin
Jealous purple butterfly. Photo by Wang Yuxu
Pink butterfly. Photo by Li Xiaoqing
Purple Butterfly. Photo by Li Xiaoqing
As one of the most beautiful creatures in nature, the delicate and beautiful butterfly is known as a "flying flower" because of its unparalleled aesthetic appreciation.
Spring is the season when butterflies are most active and the best season for viewing butterflies. Now that it is only half a month since this year's Spring Festival, readers who like nature may already be thinking about where to look at butterflies. A study by Zhu Lin, a professor at Hainan Normal University, and Zhang Jingke, a graduate student, showed that going to Dongzhai Port to see butterflies is a good choice.
So, how do they do their research, how many species of butterflies are there in Dongzhai Harbor, and which butterflies are the most?
Mangroves: The "Blue Ocean" of Butterfly Research
In the Dongzhai Port Conservation Area, known as the "Kidney of Haikou", there are pairs of butterflies everywhere, flying up and down in the flowers and mangroves with their light dance posture. The colorful wings, reflected in the sun, reflect an incomparably beautiful charm, bringing people to the poetic mood of the butterfly world.
"No one has systematically studied butterflies in the mangrove area of Dongzhai Port before." Zhu Lin explained the origin of the topic in this way, and there are very few people who study butterflies in the mangrove forest, which is the "blue ocean" of butterfly research. Through the field investigation of butterflies in the mangrove forest of Dongzhai Port, original data can be accumulated and provided scientific research reference for the conservation of Dongzhai Port.
Under the advice of the tutor, Zhang Jingke, who chose Dongzhai Harbor Butterfly as his graduation thesis, listed the six advantages of the topic.
There are good reasons to choose butterflies: "Butterflies are beautiful and attract a lot of attention. "Hainan has a good ecology, and butterflies can be seen dancing everywhere." "Butterflies fly at a lower altitude, slower and easier to collect." "Butterfly population changes are indicative of the environment." Choosing Dongzhai Port is also preferred: "Here the mangrove area is large and well protected. "Haishi University has more research on Dongzhai Port."
After preliminary investigation, they selected 6 sampling points based on the richness of vegetation and intuitive butterfly diversity, namely The Tashi Branch Station and Daoxue Branch Station of Dongzhai Port Conservation Area, Yanfeng Town Sewage Treatment Plant, Changningwei Village, Changweitou Village, and Sanjiang Gate of Sanjiang Town.
Butterfly Research: A Fun-Filled Process
"Collecting butterflies is fun, and studying butterflies is rewarding." When it comes to collecting in the wild, Zhang Jingke still has a long aftertaste.
The wind and the sun are beautiful, everything grows, the birds chirp, and the butterflies dance. While watching the beautiful spring light of nature, they breathe in the fresh air of the reserve, run among the boundless green fields, and chase the footsteps of butterflies in the smell of flowers and plants and the smell of seawater.
"We collect each sample once a month, and each time we choose a sunny and windy day, it is carried out from 10:00 to 16:00." Zhang Jingke said that each sampling is two or three people repeatedly walking around the passable area near the mangrove forest to collect all the butterflies as much as possible; bringing them indoors for spreading their wings for preservation and then classifying and identifying them according to the "Chinese Butterfly Chronicle (Revised Edition)" and "Hainan Island Butterfly".
"Identifying butterflies is a happy job." Zhang Jingke said that the beautiful pictures of butterflies are pleasing to the eye; one biometric feature after another is like a treasure hunt game compared to the past.
In the process of studying butterflies, Zhang Jingke's love for butterflies has become deeper and deeper, and the fun he has gained from them has also become more and more.
"Every time you find a new butterfly, it's like you've discovered a new continent. That feeling intoxicated me and gave me the enthusiasm to keep searching, looking for the next kind of butterfly. Zhang Jingke said that he hopes to use his research to record the butterflies in Dongzhai Port, let people know the rich species resources here, and also arouse everyone's love for butterflies and awareness of environmental protection.
Originally, the reason why butterflies have become ecological indicator organisms is due to several reasons: one is that butterflies are more common, and they are active during the day, and it is easy to collect data; second, butterflies are more sensitive to temperature, humidity, light, etc., and their activities can quickly reflect environmental changes; third, butterfly larvae (caterpillars) are specialized in feeding, and their distribution and number are also limited by plants, and their diversity can reflect the diversity of plants.
Dongzhai Harbor vegetation: most suitable for the genus Purple Spotted Butterfly
Professor Zhu Lin and Zhang Jingke published a paper "Preliminary Investigation on Butterfly Community Diversity in Mangrove Forests in Dongzhai Port" in the Journal of Hainan Normal University, which became the first published paper on butterflies in the mangrove area of Dongzhai Port.
"We collected a total of 208 butterflies in the mangrove forest of Dongzhai Port, belonging to 39 species in 7 families, 30 genera." Zhu Lin said that this accounts for 63.64%, 13.89% and 6.4% of the total number of known butterfly families, genera and species on Hainan Island, respectively. The seven families of butterflies that have been collected are Butterfly Family, Butterfly Family, Butterfly Family, Butterfly Family, Phyllopodaceae, Eye Butterfly Family, Butterfly Family, Butterfly Family, Grey Butterfly Family, and Butterfly Family.
Among them, the genus and species of the gray butterfly family are the most numerous, with 9 genera and 9 species. There are 9 species in the family Butterfly, but 2 genera are less than those in the Family Pterophoridae. In terms of individual number, the butterfly family has the largest number of individuals, accounting for 32.21% of the total collection, followed by the butterfly family, accounting for 25% of the total collection. Butterflies in the Butterfly family and The Grey Butterfly family are more abundant, but the number of individuals is not large.
In terms of independent species, which butterflies are the most?
Zhu Lin said that the most common species are the jealous purple butterfly, the broad-edged yellow pink butterfly, and the central ring butterfly, which belong to the dominant species; there are also more common fibrous pink butterflies and phantom purple spotted butterflies. The sum of the relative abundance of these 5 species of butterflies is greater than 50%, while there are as many as 20 species with a relative abundance of less than 1%. This indicates that the concentration of butterfly communities in the mangrove forest of Dongzhai Port is high.
"The vegetation structure of the Mangrove Forest in Dongzhai Port is most suitable for the survival of butterflies of the genus Purple Spotted Butterfly." Zhu Lin said that the butterfly community in the mangrove forest of Dongzhai Harbor contains the largest number of species, with 5 species, and the largest number of individuals, 48.
Butterfly Watching Tips
Butterfly classification trivia
Butterfly family: larger, faster to fly, bright in color
Ophthalmopods: Medium in size with concentric circles or eye-like patterns on the wings
Butterfly family: Medium in size, with a rounded head with two small pointed horns and stiff wings
Cyclopterae: Medium in size, with mostly ringed or intermittent ring patterns on the wings
Butterfly family: Medium in size, bright in color, with irregular spots
Butterfly: Relatively small in size, predominantly white and yellow, with powdery scales on its wings
Grey butterfly family: small size, low flight height, the main color of the wings is mostly gray, with reflective blue and purple patches
Butterfly family: small in size, with villi on the wings and body
Please don't move your eyes
When viewing butterflies, we should also pay attention to the protection of butterflies.
"Scientific research is to better protect butterflies, and butterflies have to be collected in small quantities for the needs of research. Tourists generally watch and photograph butterflies, do not collect butterflies, do not destroy the surrounding ecology of butterflies, pay attention to the care of butterflies, and abide by the provisions of the reserve. Zhang Jingke, a graduate student at Haishi Normal University, said.
Butterflies are not only a decoration of nature, but also a part of the ecology. Viewing butterflies is a great pleasure in life, but if you do not pay attention to the care of butterflies, it will cause damage to the natural ecology.
"Don't collect butterflies." Zhang Jingke said. The life of butterflies is very short, generally only two days to two weeks, if the ecology is not suitable, the life expectancy will be shortened, some collection behaviors will accelerate the death of butterflies, "butterflies can be seen from a distance can not be blasphemed, it is best to only move their eyes and do not move." (Hainan Daily reporter Shan Jigang correspondent Feng Hua Lu Gang)