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In the summer, when the sun is shining and everything is flourishing, it is a good time for insects to roam freely. At noon, with the big sun, holding a bamboo pole wrapped in spider silk, go to the woods to catch it; quiet summer nights, catch fireflies in the field with friends... Do you remember the various insects of our childhood, the best "toys" of our childhood? Wuxi is located in the water network area, coupled with the mild climate, is a rich source of insects. There are familiar know-it-all, romantic dragonflies, annoying thorns, and more unknown insects, and there is an "insect master" in Wuxi, his name is Xie Chengming, and these insects have an indissoluble relationship.
Animals also have their own language habits and they have "specific functions" for communicating with insects.
If you want to enter Xie Chengming's "insect world", first take a "worm experience tour". The reporter followed Lao Xie to a secluded jungle near Qianrong Road, where weeds grew taller than people. Since it is the hottest afternoon of the day at two o'clock, I have not seen the "grand scene" of imaginary insect dancing.
Lao Xie was particularly sensitive to the insects in the grass, and following behind him, he soon found a dragonfly resting on a leaf, completely unaware of such a tiny creature without looking closely. He quietly walked over and held up his phone, the camera less than 5 centimeters away from the dragonfly. After taking the photo, Lao Xie introduced, "There are thousands of dragonflies, this is a red dragonfly, this kind of dragonfly male appearance is red, the female is golden yellow, the same kind of dragonfly color often has differences, which is quite interesting to say." Years of observation had long since made him familiar with the habits of dragonflies.
Continuing the "exploration" along the grass, I soon saw a bug with a green body and a yellow back. Old Xie Kop, this is called "grasshopper", commonly known as "grasshopper". Curiously, seeing us approaching, this "grasshopper" did not move at all. Lao Xie secretly observed and discovered the secret, it turned out that Xuan Ji was covering this leaf of the insect. "You see, part of the leaves are green, and the underside of the leaves is a little burnt by the scorching sun, so it blends in with the color of 'ant', and this guy thinks we can't see it."
Lao Xie seemed to have an instinct to communicate with insects, and was close to the insects and did not disturb them. In his opinion, animals also have their own language habits, "only if it feels that you are safe and can be relied upon, it is not afraid." "We passed a loofah leaf again, and here the melon leaf was speckled by insects. When the reporter was curious about who the "black hand behind the curtain" was, he opened a leaf to reveal the "murderer". I saw a black round bug slightly larger than a fly. "This is called leaf nails, which specialize in eating the leaves of various melons, also known as 'shou melons.'" Shou gua's eating is very exquisite, the taste of leaf vein juice is strong, they do not eat directly, but eat around the periphery. ”
So, although each leaf was eaten to pieces, it still retained its shape. These speckled leaves seem to Lao Xie to be works of art.
Not an expert is the player taking thousands of insect pictures in two years
Perhaps because he has been in contact with insects for a long time, the 53-year-old Xie has always maintained a sense of innocence and curiosity. His love of insects is innate, and he was born in the 1960s, surrounded by bugs that were the best "playmates" of his childhood. He remembers that when he was a child, he could catch crickets in front of and behind the house to fight. On summer mornings, you can always wake up and see moths hiding inside the screen windows, and grasshoppers are blocked out. Tie a string to the scarab beetle, fly the scarab like a kite, and when you get tired, take a piece of watermelon peel and let it lick it for a while. Flick the grasshopper's leg and it will be like prostrating. At night, two fireflies were caught and put in glass bottles, "Watching the light of the fireflies sleep, now it is a very romantic thing to think about." ”
Lao Xie maintained his childhood love of insects to this day, and as he grew older, his interest and love for insects became more and more intense. He is obsessed with the strange shapes and delicate structures of insects, unparalleled color and luster, and all kinds of interesting behaviors... In his mobile phone album, there are thousands of photos of insects, almost all of which are close-ups, and the eyes and noses of the insects can be clearly seen. These bugs are not specially searched for in the deep mountains and old forests, but are photographed in daily life.
Because of his "erudition" of bugs, Lao Xie has a certain popularity in the circle. Many people call lao Xie experts, but lao xie is very repulsive to this label, "I am not an expert, I am a player". He summarizes his understanding of insects into three stages, from initial playmates to developing a good feeling for them from observing them to becoming friends with them.
People around him are curious, how did he know so many insects? Lao Xie's answer is simple: take nature as a teacher. One of the things that Lao Xie is most accustomed to doing is to pay attention to the bushes and grasses on the side of the road, "There are tens of thousands of moths alone, you can find a lot of them when you walk around, and when you see what you don't know, you can use your mobile phone to take pictures and ask people." He said that this process is like the class teacher's roll call when he went to school, at the beginning he may only remember a few, but he can remember it after a long time and more contact.
What makes Lao Xie sigh is that today, the demand for ordinary people's understanding of insects is not high, "many people only care about giant pandas and do not pay attention to sparrows, thinking that protecting animals is protecting animals in zoos." "He believes that the first choice for protecting animals is to protect the animals that can be seen and touched around them." There are no pests and beneficial insects in my concept, their existence is all reasonable, just like if there were no mice, owls would be extinct. Lao Xie said that Wuxi is located in the water network area, fireflies, crickets, praying mantis are the most common insects, however, these insects that were once everywhere are now difficult to find. In a few decades, these species may be just memories. He was more worried that some insects would become extinct before they could be studied.
So he thought of systematically sorting these insects together. Since last year, Lao Xie has taken thousands of insect photos. Under his lens, these small creatures, often thought of as pests, show a fascinating side. He will regularly send photos to the circle of friends, so that everyone can also understand the small animals around him, and will also be invited to the school to give lectures on relevant theme days, calling on children to pay attention to the real ecology.
Plants and animals are willing to contribute to the wuxi plant atlas
Among the many animals, Lao Xie has the deepest affection for birds. Because the birds are the richest and most diverse, it has further stimulated his curiosity. Among many people, Xie Chengming is an animal expert, but he does not know that he is also proficient in flowers and plants. People around him often ask him, why do you, an animal expert, want to study plants? Lao Xie heard the urgency, "The animals and plants in nature are not separated, just like raising rabbits, if you want to raise rabbits well, you must study what grass rabbits eat." In his words, animals are "married couples," while wild plants are "concubines."
In fact, Lao Xie has long been interested in flowers and plants, but there is no proper threshold. I really started paying attention to wild plants systematically because I was inspired by a book two years ago. "The book is called 'Plants in the Process of Wuxi's Urbanization," and is a collaboration between old garden expert Wu Wenxiang and Wu Bingzuo's father and son to specialize in the study of wuxi's wild plants." After seeing that book, Lao Xie was very moved, and if he got the most precious treasure, he copied the book twice first, and then, he went to the side of the book to find the physical version, and when he found one, he made a tick. In this way, every time he saw an unknown plant, he took out his mobile phone and "clicked" down, and then went to find the answer.
In Lao Xie's view, if someone can pass on the research results of wild plants, or improve it, it would be better. If one day, Wuxi's garden system needs historical materials such as environmental protection or ecological construction, or needs to produce a botanical map of wuxi, his photos may come in handy.
(Evening News reporter Cai Jia)