The Municipal Greening and City Appearance Bureau said that the green belt around downtown Shanghai is inhabited by a wide variety of insects, such as "foreign spicys" with thorns, "flower girls" with fancy appearances, and majestic praying mantises... These insects bring valuable wild fun and exposure to nature to the citizens. Let's get to know them!
This prickly guy is not easy to mess with at first glance, yes, it is what we often call "foreign spicy", the scientific name of the green thorn moth. The insect is one of the most important garden pests. In the larval stage, it will eat a large number of leaves of various plants, grow to an advanced age, and eventually form a cocoon and feather, becoming a moth. It is worth noting that it has dense stingers all over its body, and if it is accidentally contacted, it will be itchy and unbearable, so it must be far away from it.
This guy, who looks exactly like a "caterpillar", is named the moon leaf bee, which is one of the main pests of the moon season plant, and it also feeds on the leaves of the plant in the larval stage, but becomes a bee instead of a moth in adulthood.
These two fancy-looking insects are called spotted wax cicadas, and their wings are covered with fancy spots, so they are commonly known as "flower girls". This insect is a well-known species that likes to eat the sap of Ailanthus and, if the population reaches a certain number, it will also cause great harm to trees.
These two insects with different colors and similar forms are all tianniu, the red-necked one is called the peach-necked tianniu, and the spotted coat is called the star tianniu, they are all drill-type insect pests, but the objects of feeding are different. Tianniu is one of the most harmful pests in the green belt around the city, it will burrow into the phloem and even xylem of the affected trees during the larval stage, and over time it will hollow out the trees, causing broken branches or lodging, causing great safety hazards. Gardeners generally use manual hooks to catch larvae, catch adults during the mating period, or spray penetrating agents for control.
After talking about pests, let's talk about natural enemies of insects, first of all, the well-known praying mantis, which has a majestic appearance and two sickle-like serrated teeth on the chest. In fact, the praying mantis is indeed the fearful existence of many insects, it is a carnivorous insect, able to prey on most insects or eggs smaller than it, most of which are pests, and is an important part of the balanced biological chain.
Another predator resembles a dragonfly, called the butterfly horned dragonfly, which is actually very different from the dragonfly, and the two belong to different subjects. The butterfly is agile and can prey on a variety of insects in both larval and adult stages, and is currently found in small numbers in the green belt around the city, so be sure not to harm them if you encounter them unexpectedly.
The last category is the more neutral insects, such as this black samurai-like spade armor, which is less harmful to plants, complex and interesting in appearance, often a childhood playmate for children, and a target for many wild collectors to pursue collections. In addition, there are a small number of unicorns in the green belt, and these insects can bring rare wild fun and exposure to nature to children living in cities.
In the ring green belt, whether it is a pest or a natural enemy, as long as the population is reasonable, it is an important component of biodiversity enhancement in the green belt. In recent years, with the continuous promotion of the concept of pollution-free prevention and control, the focus of plant protection in the green belt has become more and more focused on building ecological balance and reducing the use of chemicals. It is believed that with the continuous improvement of the ecosystem, the green belt around the city will exert greater ecological benefits in the future and help the construction of ecological civilization in the city.
Source: Municipal Greening and City Appearance Bureau
Editor: Wang Zhi