Foreword: Unicorn fairy insect friends should know that the most common and well-known breed in China, simple breeding and feeding, is the entry variety of most insect friends. However, the seemingly ordinary unicorn is not ordinary at all, first of all, it belongs to the three protected insects in China (beneficial or important economic and scientific research value); secondly, the classification of the unicorn is disputed by Chinese and Japanese scholars; and finally the unicorn is still a huge family, with 8 subspecies (excluding the Burmese unicorn, which is still controversial).
Today we put aside the controversy over the genus name and just talk about the 8 subspecies of the unicorn fairy. Due to the length of the article, this article will be divided into two parts, the upper part will explain the unicorn subspecies distributed in Japan (a total of 5), and the second half will talk about the subspecies in China and Southeast Asia.
Note: The genus Tripoxylus is called Trypoxylus in Japan, and it is classified as allomyrina according to our classification, and the domestic genus name will be used uniformly in this article.
1. Allomyrina dichotomus septentrionalis:
The main habitats are Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Sado Island, Yuki, Hirado Island, Tsushima, Goto Island, Okinawa Main Island, Hokkaido (the last two places are artificially introduced), which can be said to cover the entire territory of Japan. At the same time, the Korean Peninsula and the eastern part of our country are also distributed.
The Japanese subspecies of the unicorn and the original subspecies (that is, the unicorn allomyrina dichotomus dichotomus in China) are more similar, and there is little difference. The males have thick and well-developed head horns and thoracic horns, oval-shaped elytra, brown to reddish body color, and larger individuals, reaching 85 mm+, and the overall proportion is the most symmetrical of all subspecies.
2. Allomyrina dichotomus takarai:
The main habitat is the main island of Okinawa, which belongs to a small subspecies in the whole unicorn family, the male has a short head horn, the front fork is not obvious, the chest angle is equally short, the elytra are black to reddish brown, and the maximum body length is about 60 mm+; the central groove of the dorsal plate of the female is shallow. According to existing academic research, its genital shape is similar to that of the Taiwanese subspecies of the unicorn fairy.
3. Allomyrina dichotomus inchachina:
Inhabiting only The Japanese island of Kume, it is also a small subspecies, very similar to the Okinawa subspecies, and if the origin is unknown, it is difficult to distinguish from the appearance. The only distinguishing feature of males is that the thoracic horn bumps are very short, and the central depression of the dorsal plate of the female's anterior thorax is not obvious. Body color is black.
Kumejima is located on the main island of Okinawa on the right
4. Allomyrina dichotomus tuchiyai subspecies:
Subspecies that inhabit The Japanese island of Nagarabe (Kagoshima Prefecture) can be considered a small subspecies in terms of body size, but this is limited to the wild environment, and the male can reach 70 mm+ under artificial breeding. The males have shorter horns, but are longer than the Okinawa and Kumejima subspecies, between the large unicorn fairy and the small unicorn fairy.
In addition , the fine hairs in the dorsal plate of the forebreast and the center of the outer wings of the Kou Nagarabe island subspecies are short and sparse , and the elytra appear bright and smooth and wider. The hairs on the tail of the female are also short and sparse.
Subspecies name: Derived from the name of Bekuwa editor-in-chief Toshiyuki Toruyuki.
Geographical location of Kou Nagarabe Island
5. Unicorn Senju Senya Hisajima? Tanegashima subspecies (Allomyrina dichotomus shizuae):
The newly released subspecies in 2017, whose main habitats are Yakushima and Tanegashima (Osumi Islands) in Japan, are also small subspecies.
The male of the one-horned Senya Kushima Tanegashima subspecies has shorter, slightly fan-shaped, the base of the thorax extends forward, the forebreast is somewhat short, the lateral edges are rounded and curved, and the body color is brown to reddish, with more individuals. The Y-shaped grooves on the dorsal plate of the female's forebreast are shallower and the lateral edges are more rounded.
Yakushima is geographically located, with Tanegashima to its right
Overall, the unicorns distributed in Japan are small species except for the Japanese subspecies, and their appearance is relatively similar.
Well, let's go here today, and in the next issue we will talk about the remaining 3 unicorn subspecies, as well as the Burmese unicorn that is still controversial.
In the last issue, we talked about the Japanese round wing, and when the unicorn fairy finished, we continued to talk about the round wing spade armor of the motherland treasure island Taiwan.
If there is any error in the above, I hope that all the insect friends will correct it, thank you for reading!