There are probably not many people in the world who don't like butterflies. Not only the colorful wings and fluttering posture of butterflies, but more importantly, butterflies were once the embodiment of love.
It is the beautiful elf of nature, the fairy of nature. Under normal circumstances, only when the pink willow is green and the spring blossoms can you see its flying silhouette.
However, on March 20 this year, I saw a beautiful butterfly in Jilin City, on the banks of the Songhua River at the foot of the Changbai Mountains.
Looking at the top of the mountain, the snow on the top of the mountain has not melted, overlooking the pond, the cold ice in the pond has not disappeared. But the butterfly did appear. It flew from nowhere, flickered in front of me, and flew into the distance.
I was busy shooting with my phone, but it flew too fast, and I tried to track it for a long time, and I didn't take half a picture of it.
★ Couples turn into butterflies, which is a love reverie for thousands of years
Seeing the butterflies flying, the first thing that came to my mind was the love story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and the beautiful violin concerto of "Liang Zhu" lingered in my ears.
Liang Zhuhua butterfly is one of the most beautiful and poignant love legends I have heard since I was a child. This story fascinates me more than "Tianxian Match", "Cowherd and Weaver Girl" and "The Legend of the White Snake".
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was a talented daughter Zhu Yingtai in Zhujiazhuang, by the Yushui River in Shangyu County, Huiji County (Shaoxing), who was beautiful and intelligent, and learned to read poetry with her brother since childhood, so she envied the talents of the ancient talented women Ban Zhao and Cai Wenji.
Zhu Yingtai hated that his family had no good teacher, so he dressed as a man and went to Huiji County (Shaoxing) to visit the teacher to study.
Yingtai happened to meet Liang Shanbo when he was studying, and he fell in love. The two sides swear an alliance and depend on each other for life and death. However, Yingtai's father promised her to the son of the county official. Liang Shanbo was so sad that he died of lovesickness and was buried in the suburbs.
On the day of Yingtai's marriage, he asked the palanquin to pass in front of the tomb of Liangshanbo as a final memorial.
Unexpectedly, the flat land spring thunder, Liang Shanbo's tomb suddenly cracked, Yingtai plunged into the tomb, long skirts flowing, clothes flying, like fairies. Then a natural rainbow is born, and flowers bloom. A pair of colorful butterflies flew out of the tomb, free and flying into the distance.
Since then, the beauty of Liang Zhuhua butterfly has been passed down in ancient meetings and passed down as a beautiful talk in the world.
★ Dear ones, wait for me, let's come together primrose
On March 20, I didn't photograph the butterfly I saw for the first time this year, which became my regret. Who knew that on April 2 I saw butterflies again, and it was two. They fluttered in front of me, high and low, fast and slow, far and near, as if two mischievous elves were playing hide-and-seek with me.
I couldn't photograph them at all, so I stared blankly at their aerial dances, and the melodious melody of the violin concerto of "Liang Zhu" sounded in my ears again.
Suddenly, the violin melody of "Liang Zhu" turned into a warm song: Honey, you fly slowly, watch out for the thorny roses in front of you...
This song is more enthusiastic and unrestrained than "Liang Zhu". Turning around, there were several people watching the early spring butterflies at the same time. Someone just found the song of Pang Long's "Two Butterflies" in his mobile phone.
Listening to the song in my ears and looking at the butterflies, my heart became even warmer.
★ Tell me, my dear, where is your cocoon
The two butterflies are certainly not twin siblings, they may be the companions of the early spring youth, compared to Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, who met, knew and fell in love because of their studies.
The butterflies' flown with each other, the reluctant posture, as if there are many whispers to say, a lot of heartfelt to talk about. Perhaps, still searching without words: Hey! Tell me, dear, where is your cocoon?
This is supposed to be a very logical butterfly cliché, as young men and women who meet each other ask carefully: Excuse me, you... Where is it and what is your name?
Butterflies have several families, and the bloodline genes of these families determine their physical characteristics. Of course, no matter who they are or where they live, they have their own four major processes of life.
A person's life, from croaking to old age, is only a gradual process from childhood to childhood to adolescence to youth to prime to old age. But butterflies are not, they have four special life forms: eggs→larvae→ pupae → butterflies.
Butterflies lay eggs, which turn into larvae. Depending on the genes of the butterfly, some become green worms, while others become scary caterpillars.
When the larvae of the butterfly grow up, they have to find a suitable place to make a small house like mulberry silkworms - silkworm cocoons.
After the butterfly larvae make a cocoon, they themselves become pupae in the cocoon.
The pupae of a butterfly are similar to those sold in the market, but in different sizes.
When the spring blossoms, the chrysalis in the cocoon room will bite through the cocoon room outside, and they will turn from an ugly chrysalis into a beautiful butterfly.
This is the metamorphosis of butterflies "breaking through the cocoon into butterflies". Since then, the butterfly has completed the four major journeys of the whole life, and then entered the next cycle of life. Do you see magic?
★ Tell me, my dear, which kind of butterfly you are
I have found butterflies in early spring in the Changbai Mountains several times, but none of them have a beautiful large phoenix tail, and the butterfly shape is smaller than the phoenix tail butterfly. And the butterflies in early spring are all brick red, dark and light, and there are absolutely no pink, white, green, blue and black.
At one point, I thought it was a dead leaf butterfly – a brownish-red dead leaf disguised to prevent birds from devouring it.
But after consulting the information, I learned that this butterfly is collectively called the chrysalis. Dead leaf butterflies are one of them.
Baidu Encyclopedia says that chrysalis is a general term for insects in the family Nymphalidae, with about 6,000 species worldwide!
Many species, colorful such as monarch butterfly, red butterfly, yellow-brown butterfly and leopard spotted butterfly. The color and markings on the wings of these butterflies are all grown from genes to avoid predators and effectively save their lives.
Common species include horned winged butterfly, leopard butterfly, mourning butterfly, thistle butterfly, and paraking butterfly. Most nymphalia larvae are brightly colored , with nodular processes , horns , or branched spines.
In the mountains, I often see caterpillars attached to blades of grass and branches, some colorful, some dark, some with double horns, some covered in long hair, ugly and hideous. The timid one gave goosebumps at a glance.
Biologists say that the larvae of the nymph butterfly are so ugly and hideous, and they have poisonous stingers to protect their lives from being devoured by humans or other birds and animals.
Some pupae are bare, hanging head-down in cracks in branches or bark, walls, etc.
That is, some butterfly larvae only pupate and do not build cocoons at all. But if there is no cocoon house, how can they survive the extreme cold of minus 30 or 40 degrees in the winter of Changbai Mountain! It's an absolute mystery.
★ In early spring, which kind of butterfly is the butterfly in Changbai Mountain?
There are more than 6,000 species of butterflies in the world, and I really can't tell which one I saw in the Changbai Mountains in early spring.
In the butterfly pavilion exhibition of the College of Life Sciences of Jilin University, I followed the picture of the colorful butterfly specimens, and finally determined the following early spring butterflies I saw through the comparison of pictures and text introductions:
(Atlas of Nymphalida)
White-hooked chrysalis : Medium-sized chrysalis. The dorsal wing surface is orange-brown, with 2 dark spots in the middle of the middle chamber of the forewing, 1 oblong black spot at the end of the middle chamber, several dark spots on the middle ventricular side, dark spots and bands on the basal half of the hindwing and subouter margin, and dentate processes on the outer edge of the forewing and hindwing; The ventral surface simulates the color of dead leaves, which changes with the seasons.
This butterfly is seen for more than a year and is seen all year round. They inhabit places such as suburbs or parks, and are highly capable of flying, visiting flowers and sucking tree sap. Adults overwinter and mate in early spring.
The early spring butterflies I saw were probably like this. Because they are adults overwintering and fall in love in early spring!
(White-hooked butterfly)
Yellow-hooked chrysalis : Medium-sized chrysalis. It is similar to the white-hooked butterfly, with a black spot at the base of the middle chamber of the dorsal wing surface, and the white-hooked butterfly does not have this spot, and the outer edge of the forewing is relatively smoother than that of the white-hooked butterfly.
The yellow-hooked butterfly is more than a year old and can be seen all year round. It inhabits suburbs or parks, has strong flying ability, visits flowers, and also sucks tree sap. Adults overwinter and mate in early spring. It seems that what I see may also be a yellow hooked butterfly!
(Yellow-hooked butterfly)
Great red butterfly : Medium-sized chrysalis. The dorsal surface of the wings is mostly blackish-brown with a wavy outer margin.
The apical horns of the forewings are prominent, decorated with white spots, with 4 obliquely white spots below, irregular to red broad transverse bands in the middle, and 3 dark spots inside. The hindwings are mostly dark brown , with a red outer margin and a row of black spots on the subouter margin.
The ventral and dorsal surfaces of the wings are distinctly marked, with the apical corners of the forewings brownish-brown and the midventricular end showing blue markings, and the rest similar to the wing surface. The hindwings have complex brownish cloudy markings and four blurred eye spots on the outer edge.
It has more than a year, and adults are more common from May to October. Inhabiting places such as suburbs or parks, it flies quickly and has a floral nature. Adults overwinter and mate in early spring. This butterfly is also an adult overwintering and falls in love and gets married in early spring!
(Great red butterfly)
Little red chrysalis : Medium-sized chrysalis. It is similar to the great red butterfly , with a large orange-red dorsal surface of the hindwings and a slightly smaller body size. The dorsal surface of the forewings and hindwings is predominantly orange-red, with white spots on the top corner of the forewings and irregular red transverse bands in the middle, and three dark spots connected inside.
The hindwings are orange-red on the back of the wings , with black patches on the outer and subouter margins. The markings on the ventral surface and dorsal surface of the wings are distinct , and the forewings are similar to those on the wing except for the yellowish brown apex. The hindwings have complex cloudy markings of yellow-brown color.
It is more common in adults than one year from May to October. Inhabiting places such as suburbs or parks, it flies quickly and has a floral nature. Adults overwinter and mate in early spring.
I'm confused: the little red butterfly is also an adult overwintering, and early spring love and marriage! Could it be that the early spring butterflies in the Changbai Mountains are these four?
The biologist told me that your conjecture is most likely correct, that is, what you saw in early spring is most likely one of the white hooked butterfly, the yellow hook butterfly, the big red butterfly, and the little red butterfly, maybe two of them. Because all four species of butterfly overwinter and mate in early spring. (About author: Wang Tianxiang, senior journalist and writer, has published 42 monographs such as novels, written more than 200 episodes of TV series, created dozens of special TV films such as history, culture, scenery, and documentary, published hundreds of articles in various newspapers and periodicals, and published more than 1,000 online articles.) ）
(Special note: The picture in this article is selected from the Internet.) If the infringement notice is deleted. Thank you! ）