Caterpillars of Swallowtail

Just now I visited Wind Walker’s blog and found that she has posted something about two lovely caterpillars of swallowtails that she is feeding. This remind of me of my caterpillars. I have found a lot of caterpillars of Papilio machaon, a similar species with Wind Walker’s, on carrot leaves. I tried to feed them but most of them died or escaped from the box. Only one transformed into a cocoon. Here are some photos.

When I first found this charming creature it was crawling on the ground so I didn’t know what its host plant is. I took a cabbage leaf nearby for granted. But the worm refused to eat.

In the following days I found more caterpillars on carrots. This one is preparing for becoming a cocoon. But it failed at last.

This is the only one that finished the transformation successfully on Oct 19. The cocoon is green at the begining moment.

Three days later, the cocoon turned grey. The most horrible thing for a caterpillar is that the worm had been parasitized by some kind of tiny wasp, which lay eggs inside a caterpillar’s body. Larvae of the wasp will grow up inside the caterpillar. When they kill the caterpillar and eat up all its organs, they emerge to wasps and fly out, leaving an empty skin hanging on a branch. Fortunately, this one looks very healthy. It probably will emerge in spring. Hoping for the brilliant moment!

Summer of 2009: Wa People’s Village

Wengding is one of the reserved typical Wa-styled village. These thatched cottages are homes to Wa people living in mountains.

People work and keep livestocks on the ground while sleep on the second floor in case of beasts.

The big hall belongs to the chief of the village.

A kind old man was cooking local tea to visitors. But I was unused to strong and bitter tea.

Water buffalo is the symbol of Wa Culture. You can see skulls of buffalos everywhere in the village.

An old jackfruit tree (Artocarpus heterophyllus) over 300 years!

a Solanaceae family plant

Summer of 2009: The Tiankeng And Rock Painting

One thing that makes the Wa Nationality culture famous is the rock painting discoverd in 1965. More than 3,000 years’ history makes it one of the most historical rock paintings of China.

A Wa-styled village. The art works are hidden in the cliff mountains behind it.

At the top of the mountain, there is a huge Tiankeng. Tiankeng refers to an extremely large and deep hole that only can be formed in karstis area when certain contiditions are satisfied. The word “Tiankeng” is actually from Chinese because the spectacles were firstly and intensively found in China.

Humans are hard to reach Tiankeng, so it is a relatively closed environment. A lot of unique and precious species are being saved in it. The trees in the picture are Caryota urens L.

Unknown plant on the mountain

Fungi on a old tree. Looks like something edible.

At last we found the painted rock in the jungle. Actually most paintings are difficult to identify. This one has been repainted. The paintings are about ancient Wa people’s daily life, e.g. grazing, war, hunting etc.

A restless butterfly (Zemeros flegyas)

Summer of 2009: the Guangyun Mian Temple

Guangyun Mian Temple, locates north of Cangyuan, is more than 170 years old. It is one of the most influential Theravada Buddhist places in southeast of China. The temple is a mixture of Dai style temple with Han architectural building. You can see beautiful wood engraved works in the window pane, and the murals inside are famous. We visited there the second day morning. That few people was there because of the remoteness contributes to the peacefulness…

The east side of the temple. The yard is too small to step back for a integral shot of the building.

One of the huge gloden dragons on the pillar.

The temple is amoung the list of “Key Cultural Relics Under State Protection”

The frangipani(Plumeria rubra) were flowering in the yard peacefully.

A cute cat in the yard

Summer of 2009: Twilight of Cangyuan

We arrived Cangyuan, a county located in southeast of Yunnan Province between China and Burma (location), late. It is famous for its Wa Nationality culture.

We intended to stay overnight in the resort (the village in the middle of picture), where my father had lived in last time he came here, but it is no longer operating.

If you turn around there was a peaceful reservoir because I took these two photos on a dam.