Daming Mountain reproduces the world's precious butterfly species - the golden-spotted beaked phoenix butterfly

On May 1, 2021, rangers from the Damingshan National Nature Reserve Administration in Guangxi province discovered the golden-spotted beaked butterfly, a national first-class key protected wild animal, at the low altitude of Daming Mountain. Live female golden-spotted beaked butterflies have been observed at this low altitude, the first time in Daming Mountain.

Forest ranger Wei Qicheng of The Damingshan National Nature Reserve Administration in Guangxi photographs the golden-spotted beaked butterfly at low altitude (Wei Qicheng/Photo)

According to relevant records, the golden-spotted beaked phoenix butterfly, as a unique treasure of China, is known as the "national butterfly" and "the proud son of the butterfly". It is precious and rare, is China's only butterfly national key protection wildlife, ranked first among the world's eight precious butterflies, has the reputation of "dream butterfly" and "world animal living fossil". The golden-beaked butterfly is a subtropical and tropical alpine species, inhabiting the evergreen broad-leaved forest mountains at an altitude of about 1000 meters, because it rarely goes down to the ground for activities, lives for two generations a year, the adult activity time is short, and the mating and reproduction are greatly affected by climate, which is not easy to find and capture, which brings great difficulties to scientific research. In addition, the female-male ratio of the golden-beaked butterfly is very different, reaching 1:50 to 200, so it is difficult to see the female golden-beaked butterfly this time. The re-discovery of wild animals under national first-level key protection at such a low altitude is the result of the Development Concept of Ecological Environmental Protection and the emphasis on scientific monitoring and research in Guangxi Damingshan Nature Reserve, and will further provide a scientific basis for Guangxi Damingshan Nature Reserve to better study and grasp the living habits and activity rules of golden-spotted beaked butterflies. In the next step, the Guangxi Daming Mountain Administration Bureau will further implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's thought on ecological civilization, actively practice the concept of "green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains", continue to increase ecological protection, scientific research and monitoring, and promote the sustainable development of protected areas.

Encyclopedia

Teinopalpus aureus belongs to the genus Officinalis, the body length is about 30 mm, the two wings spread about 110 mm, the forewings have a curved golden green band, the hindwing has several golden patches in the center, the posterior edge has a crescent-shaped golden yellow spot, the tail of the hindwing is prominent and slender, and the end is a small golden yellow, it often flies high in the forest, and sometimes stops among the flowers. Its graceful posture is like a gorgeous, noble, and radiant "noble lady", so it is called "queen of butterflies" and is a precious butterfly species in the world.

Article author | Guangxi Daming Mountain National Nature Reserve Qin Qisheng

Image source | Guangxi Daming Mountain National Nature Reserve Wei Qicheng