A few days ago, the dragonfly hall built in the Nankunshan Nature Reserve was basically completed, and groups can be booked to visit. According to reports, this is the first dragonfly hall in the country.
The total area of Nankunshan Nature Reserve is 1887 hectares, and the forest coverage rate is 98.8%. The flora, forest type, population composition, community structure and ecological environment in the reserve have significant primitiveness, a wide variety of animals and plants, and have a special status and role in the history of biological evolution, known as the "treasure house of species in Guangdong Province", and is an ideal scientific research, science popularization and teaching base.
156 species of dragonflies have been identified
Dragonfly Hall is located next to the office building of The South Kunshan Nature Reserve, which takes the dragonflies in the South Kunshan area as the main exhibition object, divided into the main sections of physical objects, pictures and texts, combined with a large number of exquisite color pictures and exquisite specimens, from different angles to show the dragonfly, the most beautiful and agile insect flyer in nature, and briefly introduce the mysterious life course of ancient insects such as dragonflies.
"After more than 10 years of meticulous field investigation, 156 species of dragonflies have been found in Nankunshan, including many very rare dragonfly species." Cui Xiaodong, director of the Management Office of the Nankunshan Nature Reserve, said that in recent years, in addition to constantly refreshing the varieties of dragonflies, two new species of dragonflies have been discovered, namely the Nankunshan black-fronted dragonfly and the golden-winged split-lip dragonfly.
As an ornamental insect and flagship species, dragonflies have always been loved for their graceful posture and gorgeous colors. Cui Xiaodong introduced that at present, we are currently stepping up the training of docents and improving the later construction, and the management office of the reserve welcomes groups to make an appointment to visit, especially the primary and secondary schools.
Dragonflies can be used as a reference for water quality monitoring
Near the Dragonfly Pavilion, there is also an open-air dragonfly pond with water and plants. After standing for less than 10 minutes, you can see dragonflies flying in the pool. At the same time, there are also tadpole-like ephemerals in the dragonfly pond.
"Dragonflies go through two stages of life in their lives, and the juvenile period is spent in water, and the dragonflies in this stage are called juvenile insects, also known as waterflies." Zeng Jindong, head of the conservation and management section of nankunshan nature reserve, introduced that the juvenile insects live in the water from months to several years, and the mature juvenile insects will surface to feather, and the process of feathering usually lasts for several hours, and the feathered adult insects immediately fly away from the water surface, and it takes about 1-2 weeks of growth to mature. Adults have a short life, about 1-3 months. Adults and juvenile insects are carnivorous, adult insects prey on small insects such as mosquitoes, small moths and leafhoppers, and juvenile insects prey on small aquatic insects (such as ephemeral insects and mosquito larvae, etc.), small shrimp, small fish, etc.
Zeng Jindong introduced that because dragonfly insects live in various types of waters, their distribution is greatly affected by temperature, water quality, water flow speed and aquatic vegetation. Adults live near feathering sites, and their feeding, habitat, mating, and spawning sites are closely related to the surrounding vegetation, making dragonfly insects important indicators of environmental quality.
Nankunshan has bred many dragonflies "the best of China"
According to the data provided by the Nankunshan Nature Reserve, in addition to Antarctica, dragonflies are distributed in all major regions of the world, and 31 families and about 6,000 species have been recorded worldwide. Nearly 1,000 species are known in China, belonging to 19 families. There are about 260 species in Guangdong Province, and 156 species have been found in the Nankunshan area. It can be seen that the dragonfly species found in Nankunshan account for about 60% of the province.
Interestingly, the largest dragonfly in China is the female giant round-rumped dragonfly with a body length of nearly 12 centimeters; the largest chinese wingspan is the butterfly split-lip dragonfly, and the female butterfly split-lip dragonfly can have a wingspan of more than 15 centimeters; the smallest dragonfly in China is the pygmy red dragonfly and the yellow-tailed cricket and the white-bellied small cockroach of the genus, and the body length of these dragonflies is about 2 centimeters. "These 'Best of China' can be found in Nankunshan." Zeng Jindong introduced that Nankunshan has found giant round-rumped large fly, butterfly split lip dragonfly, dwarf red dragonfly, yellow-tailed small cricket, white-bellied small cockroach and so on.
"The dense forests and babbling streams in the Nankunshan Nature Reserve create the ideal living environment for dragonflies." Cui Xiaodong introduced that at present, the dragonfly investigation work in Nankunshan is continuing, and it is believed that after a more comprehensive field investigation, more dragonflies will be found.
Source: Nanfang Daily