Saturday, October 30, 2010

BOTM: Mystery Ladybug

First off calling all Chinese speakers to translate this:

三年前農曆年假回老家過年,順便到村後的八掌溪拍攝高蹺鴴,偶然發現岸邊的芒草有幾隻大十三星瓢蟲,從此我開始注意大十三星瓢蟲在北部的分布,但這幾年間沒再見過牠。大十三星瓢蟲體型很大,較一般小瓢蟲大2 ~ 4倍,主要特徵為前胸背板有1枚梯形的大黑斑,翅鞘左右各5枚,加上中央的3枚,總計有13枚黑斑,與小十三星瓢蟲差別在於:小十三星瓢蟲左右各6枚黑斑,加上翅末端的1枚;位置和大小也與大十三星瓢蟲不同。

自從在八掌溪發現這隻大瓢蟲後,每年春節、掃墓回老家都要到八掌溪畔看看,幾番寒暑下來只在當年的四月再次看過,但沒拍好照就讓牠飛走!之後不死心,不論 春、夏、秋、冬只要回老家就去找,但每次都悵然而回。八掌溪畔為沙質地,那裡栽種玉米、蘆筍、蕃薯等農作物,岸邊還有許多高大的芒科植物、竹林、大花咸豐 草、和某些豆科的野生植物,因為有蚜蟲所以引來許多瓢蟲,以六條瓢蟲最多,七星瓢蟲、波紋瓢蟲次之,龜紋瓢蟲和錨紋瓢蟲較少,但怎麼找也看不到大十三星瓢 蟲。

今早我照例到這裡報到,拍了許多瓢蟲,有不同種類的瓢蟲在交尾,雖然搜尋不到目標但也算有所收穫。我不相信尋不到牠們,下午又去找,決心沿著溪邊往前走, 不放過每一株可能躲藏瓢蟲的植物。下午豔陽高照,風沙吹得滿臉不舒服,走了二個小時還是沒著落只好折回,正要收工時,忽然發現玉米田裡有一隻大瓢蟲,輕輕 撥開葉子一看,啊!大十三星瓢蟲,睽違多年我們終於再次相遇!

大十三星瓢蟲已經成為稀有昆蟲了!為什麼這種大瓢蟲會驟減呢?難道體型較大的昆蟲在物競天擇下容易被淘汰嗎?象鼻蟲中的大字號台灣大象鼻蟲不也變成瀕臨絕種的稀有昆蟲,但牠們在過去農業年代是很普遍的。皇天不負苦心人,讓我找到這隻大瓢蟲,除了影像記錄牠的存在,我也寫下這些文字,見證這隻大吉祥的瓢蟲還在我們身邊,牠告訴我們要重視環境保育,才有機會一飽眼福再與牠相見。

Secondly the site that I found out about this ladybug is all in Chinese hence the text about it and my need to understand it. So I went to translate on Google and it made no sense.

However what did make sense is that it apparently is very rare and it hasn't been seen in a few years. Google also mentions it being called "Samsung Big Ten Ladybug" Seriously?

First off Samsung is a Korean electronic company and they make TV's and DVD players and other stuff I can't think of. So it's quite obviously not going to come up under searches with that ridiculous name. And it didn't cause I went searching just in case.

However if I found out the Chinese name for it ( since it's obviously known to science ) that might lead to a scientific name and possibly an English one.

However I want to know what the text says. There's more pics here.

That site is AMAZING! I wish they had English translations. :(

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