He Li (top) and Zhou Chao collect insects
Just a few days ago, a new insect species was described and published: "He Li fork long flat carapace". The "He Li" in the insect name is the name of an insect lover in Chengdu. This new species was discovered by him, and associated with the naming of the new species of insects, is not the first time for him and his insect lovers.
harvest
The lampkeeper picked up a worm
It was a new species that had not been discovered
On December 3, Chengdu boy He Li learned that the beetle he had found and submitted to experts was published in the international taxonomic journal ZOOTAXA and was identified as a new species, named after "He Li" - "He Li fork long flat nail". Because of his busy work, he did not share it with his friends on Weibo and WeChat circles until more than 11 p.m.
"This beetle was found in Panzhihua." He Li is an electrical engineer who worked on the construction of the substation in The Town of Piping in Panzhihua from 2014 to 2015. Because he loves insects, he stays under the lights outside after work at night, "Most insects have phototropism and will fly after light at night." ”
On the night of May 21, 2015, He Li played with his mobile phone and left the project department and walked to the LED light next to the toilet he often visited. "After 9 p.m., I saw the beetle." He Li said that at that time, he noticed the slender and small body size of the beetle and the square lattice-like wing structure on the elytra, "confirming that it is a long flattened armor of the coleoptera prosphingorphalus suborder, very rare, and now there are only more than thirty kinds of species in the world." ”
He picked the worm back. After a simple treatment that night, it was put in a self-sealing bag and the beetle was brought back to Chengdu by taking advantage of the opportunity to return home in June. "Put it in the fridge when you get home." He Li said that although there are dissection and photographic instruments at home, "however, on the one hand, such beetles are relatively scarce, and I don't know much about them, so I have not dissected and made specimens." "It wasn't until early 2017 that entomologist Wang Chengbin returned to Chengdu from the Czech Republic." During the meal together, I talked about his interest in the long flat armor, so I gave him the long flat armor. ”
In the middle of this year, Wang Chengbin told He Li that he basically confirmed that the long flat nail was a new species; on December 3, a paper on this new species was published in the international taxonomic journal ZOOTAXA, named after He Li.
"Very happy. Lucky to have encountered new species that have not been described. He wrote on Weibo.
Dangerous
Drill through unexplored caves
He also fought against monkeys
"In chengdu's insect circle, there are not many people like me and He Li who take care of scientific research." Zhou Chao, He Li's partner, introduced that they maintained contact with some research institutions and scholars.
Zhou Chao is a civil engineer and a partner of He Li to collect in the wild. "It's a small circle." He Li showed reporters a Sichuan-Chongqing insect friend exchange QQ group that he had previously joined, and there were more than 170 people in the group, "but only more than a dozen people are active every day." "Now he's in a WeChat group, and there are only more than 60 people. Zhou Chao and He Li were netizens at first, "chatting in a large group, finding that they were all from Chengdu, and meeting offline." Everyone is about the same age and has the right personality. He Li said.
The first year-end prize was spent on insects
"When I was asked what I was going to do when I was growing up, I said I was going to be an entomologist." He Li recalled. Zhou Chao's thoughts as a child were similar to He Li's. Although the two did not become entomologists later, their hobbies were never put down: every time he made a travel guide, He Li paid the most attention to the local natural museum, "and the local bookstore, who would buy some insect books." In Zhou Chao's view, this is a must," it is very pleasant to go to the field and visit the collections of local or other insect friends. ”
In the two years of Panzhihua's participation in the substation project, in addition to guarding the lights at night, He Li would appear in the surrounding mountains during the day of the holiday to "look for insects", so that once a month, he would go home, "there will always be some insects in the luggage." He Li remembers that the first year-end award after joining the work was spent on insects: he bought a macro lens and got an "insect room" at home to raise insects.
Learn SRT techniques for seeing cave insects
At the beginning of the year, He Li became fascinated with cave insects, "In a paper published by a professor at South China Agricultural University, he mentioned the long-necked blind rifle armor found in the cave in Guangxi, which felt like an 'alien', which touched me a lot. In order to be able to enter the cave, at the beginning of the year he even found a non-governmental caving organization, "spent a month and a half, going to classes twice a week to learn SRT (single rope) technology." "Finally, in April this year, He Li entered the unexplored cave for the first time," that time he found a kind of blind rifle armor, very excited - now looking back on it, there are some scalp numbness, like finding diamonds. He described himself as saying that he couldn't help but cry out.
I almost met bears and Fought monkeys
The odds of encountering wild animals in the wild are high and sometimes dangerous. He Li said that when he went to the Xiling Snow Mountain to collect insects, "the local villagers said that there were bears nearby and they wanted to steal honey." "It was also on that gathering road," I saw a tree shaking violently in the distance, and when I thought of my fellow countrymen, I suspected that it was a bear - and quickly left. ”
Another time, He Li, Zhou Chao and another insect friend went to Lushan to collect insects. "We brought bananas and planned to go to the mountains to pot insects."
Unexpectedly, the three of them encountered the monkeys on the mountain at a roundabout position, "Stop us and grab the fruit." Zhou Chao said that at that time, he wanted to use a stick to drive away the monkeys, "when I turned around, my feet stepped on the curb stone, and the curb stone after the rain in the mountain was slippery, and then I slid down the mountain." Fortunately, Zhou Chao tried to adjust his posture in the end, "That slope is very steep, with a drop of seven or eight meters, and now that I think about it, it is a thrill." ”
appraise
scholar:
They can go
We don't have the energy to go where to collect
Wang Chengbin was also an insect enthusiast at first, but unlike He Li and Zhou Chao, he eventually embarked on the road of academic research. The acquaintance with He Li and Zhou Chao was also in the insect friend group at the beginning, "At that time, I was still studying in Europe. Wang Chengbin said. After returning from the Czech Republic last year, he is now an associate researcher at Mianyang Normal University. In 2017, Wang Chengbin cooperated with He Li to publish the "Noon Su Pseudo Deer Tianniu", and that year he published the "Zhou Chao's Horned Armor" named after Zhou Chao, and this year published the "He Li Fork Long Flat Armor".
"He Li and Zhou Chao are passionate about insects, and their collection ability is good, which is stronger than many students who are just mixed education." In Wang Chengbin's view, "fanatical" insect enthusiasts are full of enthusiasm, keen on collection, perfect specimen production, rich experience, familiar with the subjects they love, and even some small-scale classification ability is amazing, "but most of them are not familiar with the detailed structure of insects, the homologous structure between cross-taxa is vague, lack of academic experience, and are not familiar with the format and writing of academic papers." ”
However, Wang Chengbin said that there are more people who are good at doing things, "they can go to some places where we don't have the energy to collect, find some new things, and if there are new species, we can publish them through professional papers." ”
Romantic Valentine's Day gift
In the name of the wife
Name new species of insects
In fact, it is not the first time that a new species of insects has been named after He Li and his partner Zhou Chao. In 2017, 6 new species of insects associated with them were described and published.
❶ Noon Su Pseudo Deer Heavenly Bull
This is the first time He Li discovered a new species of insect, named after his wife "Noon Su".
It was collected in Xichang in 2012 and initially suspected to be a new species in 2014. On February 14, 2017, He Li published a paper on the new insect species with himself as the first author, "The first reaction is to name his wife, which is a special Valentine's Day gift." ”
❷ Ho's Black Cicada
This was collected by He Li from a mango tree when he was building a substation in Panzhihua.
❸ He Li imitates the Celestial Bull
This is a friend who gave he li a specimen in gratitude, named after he li.
❹ Ho Li Ava ant beetle
It was collected in Lingyan Mountain, Dujiangyan.
❺ Zhou Super Horned Armor
This was discovered by Zhou Chao and He Li when they were turning over stones in the Lingyan Mountain in Dujiangyan, that was the first time they found the rod horn armor, and they did not expect it to be a new species
❻ Zhou Chao ghost ant shell
Chengdu Business Daily - Red Star News reporter Peng Liang
Figure according to respondents
Original title: Chengdu Worm Master In my name, the name of the insect