Summer of 2009: Rainforest 5

Today let me show you some non-insect creatures that I have recorded in the rain forest. These will be the last post of rain forest series.

after a heavy but short rain, a cute small lizard came out.

It was abnormal that Amphibian was very rare in tropical jungle in rainy season. This was the only toad we found in the night.

an ugly snail

huge spiders the size of a palm are everywhere in the jungle.

We intended collecting beetles and other odd things under bright lights but received disappointment. What was also disappointed like us was the spider waiting there.

Achatina fulica, the giant snail originally from East Africa, is widely distributed all around world’s tropical area and has become one of the most harmful invading species.

Summer of 2009: Rainforest 4

Today I gonna show you the other insects I shot in the forest.

A colorful leaf beetle. 1cm

This is the largest “tortoise beetle” (Chinese name of insects of Cassididae) I’ve ever seen. I love its crystal elytron with metallic gold  pattern shining in the sunshine.

A gray young mantis on a gray rock. I would have missed it if my friend did’t pointed it to me.

A big flying cockroach finally stopped on defoliation.

This is the only walking stick insect species we found there, yet the quality is quite large in August.

A beautiful moth’s dream was interrupted by us.

To be continued

Summer of 2009: Rainforest 3

More insects of Orthoptera and Homoptera. These vegetarians are easily found in bushes and big trees.

A common and odd-looking grasshopper in tropical forest, Erianthus dohrni Bolivar

This one missed a leg, nevertheless, it is good at flying. It’s the same species with the above one but in different color.

common locust in the forest

another species in the bush

How marvelous the froghopper is! The nymph make a lot of foam, like saliva spitted by someone at plant, and hide itself in it for protection.

Saiva gemmata (Westwood,1848). I’ve never seen this kind of insect before, which is often called “chicken” in China. I don’t know why.

a big one of Ricaniidae

To be continued

Summer of 2009: Rainforest 2

A lot of insects live in tropical rainforest. But we didn’t find too much as we expected. Maybe it was not the right season. However, it was the right season for all kinds of butterflies, which attracted us most, in the begin of August.

Butterflies gather together, drink a lot of water and drain it to cool their bodies in hot days.

Thauria Lathyi

Stibochiona nicea

Loxura atymnus

Cyrestis sp.

This funny skipper butterfly kept sucking the liquid drained from itself. Then it drained and sucked again and again. I infer it’s a simple way to quickly make the skipper cool without much effort to find enough water source in hot day.

To be continued

Summer of 2009: Rainforest 1

This summer I went my home: Yunnan Province, China. Yunnan is famous for its diversity of terrain, climate, ecosystem and life. During the holiday I visited some places in south and southwest of the province, where more creatures could be found. The very fisrt place I want to show you is the rainforest of the Green Water River near Manhao (Find out the location here). We have stayed there for only one day because there are no place to live. A few days later I retured with my parents again. My time is so limited today and more pictures will be posted in the following days.

The overview of the rainforest

odd tropical floras

fungi at the bottom of the forest

the fruits of some kind of fan palm

To be continued

Dragonfly Emerged 3

Dear friends, I’m back. I know you have waited me for long time. Soooooo sorry for that and thanks for your visiting again! Actually I still cannot load Blogger here in usual way. Now I’m here through GappProxy.

Anotogaster kuchenbeiseri is the largest dragonfly in Beijing. It’s the third and the last dragonfly species that I fed this year. They have all emerged in May and June when the network is unavailable. Now here are some records.

The full-grown naiad of Anotogaster kuchenbeiseri. I got eight of this in the Botanical Garden on April, 25.

Left：Male Right：Female

The naiads live in the mud under the stream, hunting all kinds of aquatic creatures by the “mask”, as it were, the forelegs of a mantis.

Six left one month later. The first male emerged in the morning of May, 27.

How to identify a dragonfly of Cordulegastridae Family? Their two eyes connect at one point.

Feeding tips: A relatively capacious space is necessary. Keep the environment dark and keep the water clean. Do not fill with too much water. Be careful about the temperature in hot summer. Warm water may lead to oxygen deficiency. And don't forget to put some rocks and branches for emerging.

Before its first flying, draining surplus water can lighten its weight.

Left：Male Right：Female

The eyes will turn to green a few days later.

Related Posts：
Dragonfly Emerged
Dragonfly Emerged 2