I want to ask you, if you want to have a pet, what kind of pet would you have? Many classmates may tell me that they want to have cats and dogs, and some people want to raise hamsters and goldfish. But did you know that in Japan, many people think of beetles as pets?
The Japanese import hundreds of thousands of beetles from all over the world every year! However, Japanese entomologists worry that imported beetles will become invasive species, endangering native Japanese organisms. What's going on? In this section, I'll tell you how beetles became invasive species.
Let's first talk about what beetles the Japanese like. The Japanese prefer two types of beetles, one called "unicorn fairy", and the other called "spade armor", also called "spade worm". I put the names and pictures of these two types of beetles on the audio cover, and you can take a look.
(Unicorn Fairy)
(Spade worm)
The Japanese love beetles, and they import unicorns and spades from all over the world as pets. However, entomologists worry that imported beetles could cause disaster if they run into the wild and breed in large numbers in Japan. Why?
Because the creatures of a place have evolved together for millions of years, these creatures can check and balance each other. For example, if there is a lot of grass in a place, there will be many animals that can eat grass, so that grass will not flood.
But if we bring a new creature to this place, something may be wrong, because if no other creature can suppress this new creature, then it will multiply in large numbers and become uncontrollable.
Let me give you an example and you'll see. There is a plant called water hyacinth, which can float on the surface of the water. You can take a look at the photos of it.
(Water hyacinth)
The water hyacinth was originally From South America. However, someone brought the water hyacinth to China, this is trouble, in China, no insects will eat it, there is no germ can make it sick, the result is that the water hyacinth grows more and more, and now in the south, there are many rivers floating on the surface full of water hyacinth, even the boat can not go!
So you see, how destructive the new species is. Like water hyacinth, moving to a new place, the phenomenon of flooding in the local area, we call it "invasive species".
Japanese scientists are worried that imported beetles will become invasive species, grabbing food with local Japanese beetles and grabbing places where they cannot survive. Moreover, if there are parasites on the body of imported beetles, which may endanger native Japanese organisms, the situation is even worse.
Now you know, the Japanese are worried that imported beetles will become invasive species, but at present, everyone has not thought of a good way. Then I would like to ask you, in addition to the common pets such as cats, dogs and dogs, do you want to have some strange pets? Feel free to let me know in the message area.
Finally, I would like to ask you, have you ever heard of a medicinal herb called Cordyceps sinensis? This name sounds very strange, there are worms, and there are grasses, so do you think, is Cordyceps sinensis or grass? Tomorrow I'll tell you the answer!