It's out!

The cocoon I posted in the last post has died in an accident. However, there was another one hidden in the branches and leaves in the box I used to feed the caterpillars. This one was not emerged until Dec 11 morning. Cool!

Papilio machaon

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.

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.

A Gift For My Girlfriend

This is the gift for my girlfriend’s 20th birthday. I collected these butterflies carefully during my summer holiday in remote Yunnan. Then we ordered a frame and collected some plant material. Last night when the first snow of 2009 was falling outside, we finished the mounting in a classroom. Here it is!

The species are: Euploea mulciber (the smaller blue and black one); Byasa polyeuctes (the black swallowtail); Thauria lathyi (the black and yellow one); Idea leuconoe (the white spotted one)

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 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

Bugs in Campus 1

A Polygonia c-aureum L. dancing in spring after a winter of hibernation. 
Date: 3/19/2009

A syrphid fly. It just reminds me of Joan’s latest post. LOL!
Date: 4/9/2009

A lovely leaf beetle that I captured in a boring politics class
Date: 4/9/2009

aphids on Shepherd's purse
Date: 4/8/2009

The first shot of insect in 2009!
Date: 3/19/2009

Four Butterfly Species

Family: Satyridae
Species: Lasiommata deidamia Eversmann
Place: Datan Grassland (here)

Family: Pieridae
Species: Aporia crataegi Linnaeus
Place: Yudaokou (here)

Family: Pieridae
Species: Coenonympha oedippus Fabricius
Place: Yudaokou (here)

Family: Nymphalidae
Species: Melitaea sp. ( Melitaea diamina? )
Place: Jixielinchang (here)

Insects in Baiwangshan

Baiwangshan is a small hill near our school. Though the species there are not very abundant, I often climb it because it's the only place where I can searching insects nearby.

Lycorma delicatula, common species in Beijing. From Insects & Bugs

Neptis sappho. From Insects & Bugs

Lovely young mantis (Hierodula patellifera Serville). From Insects & Bugs

A young Chondracris rosea. From Insects & Bugs

A group of baby stinkbugs. From Insects & Bugs

The cicada's eclosion ended up with a failure. From Insects & Bugs

Popillia mutans in a flower. From Insects & Bugs

For more pictures please visit my Picasa Album