Source: Yangcheng Evening News
Huanong teachers and students "cave to find insects" to discover new species!
Reporter Zhang Luyao
Correspondent Fang Wei Xie Han
How long is 257.4 km? This is the distance from Guangzhou South Railway Station to Shaoguan East Railway Station, and the length of The Shuanghe Cave in Zunyi, Guizhou, the first long cave in Asia and the fifth in the world. Since 2009, teachers and students from the cave biodiversity research team of South China Agricultural University have gone deep into Shuanghe Cave to study the creatures in the cave. Over the past ten years, they have successively found a variety of representative taxa of cave creatures such as cave bugs, horses, jumping insects, curtain worms, scorpions, hook shrimp and frogs in the cave.
On March 24, 2019, the press conference of the Shuanghedong International Scientific Expedition Project was held in Suiyang, Zunyi City, Guizhou Province. Tian Mingyi, the leader of the biodiversity research team of Huanong Cave and a professor at the College of Agriculture, was invited to attend the press conference to show his team's latest achievements in shuanghe cave research. So far, the team has found more than 40 species of true cave animals.
New species: Discovery of "specialized" "double-river blind foot beetle"
What does Asia's longest cave look like? Shuanghe Cave, the longest known karst cave in China, was formed within the confines of a small town called "Hot Spring" in Suiyang County, Zunyi, Guizhou. Due to the erosion of water over the years, the sand is gathered into a tower, the dripping water penetrates the stone, and there are naturally formed cave halls in the cave, and there are stalactites formed by the continuous dissolution and precipitation of carbonates.
In this magical cave, the footprints of Huanong teachers and students have also been left.
Huanong Cave Biodiversity Research Team is composed of teachers and graduate students led by Tian Mingyi, dedicated to studying the diversity of cave biological species and identifying new species, and is one of the most active teams in the relevant fields in China, with 4 teachers and 6 graduate students.
Since 2009, the team has gone deep into Shuanghe Cave to study the creatures in the cave, and has been discovering representative groups of true cave creatures in the cave for more than ten years, and has successively found that the representative taxa of real cave creatures in the cave include cave beetles, horses, jumping insects, curtain worms, scorpions, hook shrimp and frogs, and more than 40 kinds of true cave animals have been found. These species are very rare, can only survive in caves, and have high scientific research and conservation value.
The discovery of the new species "Double River Blind Foot beetle" (which is also a model species of a new genus) made Tian Mingyi particularly excited. It is a kind of blind step armor whose body is very "specialized" (the species undergoes certain changes in morphology in order to adapt to the dark cave environment), its eyes are completely degenerate, without ultraviolet rays, so there is no pigment, the body wall becomes thinner, the body becomes more slender, the sensory organs play a role, the area of the induction place becomes larger, and it is more sensitive to airflow, temperature and humidity, and danger information. Due to its discovery in the Shuanghe Cave, Tian Mingyi named it "Shuanghe Blind Infantry Armor".
In Shuanghe Cave, they also found a variety of cave creatures such as slender-necked blind foot armor, hidden hair belt double horse land, longhorn jumper, spotted stove horse, curtain worm, dragon horse land and so on. The Tian scale jump he and his team discovered was a jumping insect named after Professor Tian Mingyi's surname.
Cave exploration: looking for insects in the dark, sometimes "flying cornices to the wall"
Is cave exploration and insect hunting fun? Is it dangerous? Tian Mingyi told reporters that the cave is often dark, but for them, the cave means endless novelty and mystery.
Put on a red cave suit, wear a hard hat, the backpack on the back is filled with various work equipment, the chest hangs a small bottle of insect pickers, deep into the cave, as far as the eye can see is pitch black, headlamps and flashlights are the only light source, and the slightest sound will be infinitely amplified. As they walked, they searched carefully, not sparing even a stone crevice.
"We must have taken the target to the hole to find bugs." Tian Mingyi introduced that before entering the team, the team will first do their homework to fully understand the cave environment and the possible insect species in the cave.
When you see running water or a relatively damp place, everyone's first reaction is: "There may be bugs here!" "Once there is a discovery, everyone will excitedly gather around, observe, take pictures, discuss. Even some bugs hidden in the crevices will find ways to "water" them with water.
The dark, deep caves meant many unknown risks, and they had to be careful with every step they took, and in order to maintain balance, their hands had to be freed up to prevent themselves from holding themselves up when they slipped. Sometimes they also have to climb steep stone walls, and if they encounter a longitudinal deep hole, they must find a stable fulcrum at the mouth of the cave to fix it, and then tie it around their waist with a strong rope, and slowly descend into the hole by grasping the rope. "Tired, but we're happy." Tian Mingyi laughed.
Study Caves: Investigate more than 720 caves and discover the top ten new species in the world
"Exploring cave creatures is only the first step. We must first figure out what species live in the cave and how they live, and then we can make an assessment of their endangerment level, and then formulate conservation countermeasures. Tian Mingyi said, "The cave ecosystem is very fragile, and the protection of cave biodiversity has not received enough attention in China." ”
Since its research began in 2000, the team has traveled to 16 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country, surveyed more than 720 caves, and tracked down "cave spirits". They started from scratch and grew up in "cave exploration" after "cave exploration".
At present, in the field of cave biology research, Huanong's research on the two taxa of cave stepmen and malu has been in a leading position at home and abroad. The cave creatures that the team has discovered include more than 40 species of horses and more than 80 kinds of blind foot armor. Among them, the first discovery of the Lixue blind step beetle was rated as the top ten new species in the world in 2018. They have also edited and published 1 academic monograph and 55 SCI academic papers.
The discovery of a new species is not easy, tian Mingyi and the team not only have to find holes, go into holes to find insects, catch insects, but also study and identify insects, sometimes lasting several years or even more than a decade.
Tian Mingyi has been associated with the cave for 15 years, and a type of foot armor with missing eyes aroused his initial interest in "drilling holes". In his office, there is a row of cabinets about 2 meters high, which contain many specimen boxes stacked on top of each other, and hold a variety of step beetle specimens, including more than 100 type specimens. "It's all baby!" He laughed.
"Interested in insects, able to endure hardships, able to withstand loneliness, in order to keep the original intention." Tian Mingyi, who has been climbing mountains, "drilling holes" and looking for insects for many years, and his hair has gray, is still happy to take graduate students out of the wild, go deep into caves, collect specimens, and conduct species identification. He told reporters that after retirement, he will continue to drill holes to find worms, "until he is 70 years old!" ”