The golden birdwing

　　Front wings of the orange oakleaf;

　　Photo by Lin Hailun

　　A July 5th report by Ningbo Evening News titled ‘Incomplete Investigation: At Least 115 Butterfly Species Found in Longguan Township’ has attracted a great deal of public attention. Ningbo Evening News journalist Shi Chengcheng reached out to Lin Hailun – a famous Ningbo-based botanist and butterfly specialist – to draw a Butterfly Handbook of Ningbo.

　　7月5日，《寧波晚報》刊登了報道《一份不完全調查顯示海曙龍觀鄉至少“藏”了115種蝴蝶》，激起了廣大讀者的好奇心。為此，記者聯系了寧波著名植物、蝴蝶研究專家林海倫，為大家繪制這份“寧波蝴蝶手冊”。

　　According to incomplete statistics, a total of 220 butterfly species of 11 families have been found and recorded so far in Ningbo. Among them, 59 species belong to the Nymphalidae family, 43 to the Lycaenidae and 42 to the Hesperiidae. Surprisingly, only 26 species of them fall into the famous Papilionidae family, while 27 are from the Satyridae.

　　據不完全統計，目前寧波已發現并有記錄的蝴蝶種類共計11科220種。其中，蛺蝶科有59種；灰蝶科有43種；弄蝶科42種。令人大跌眼鏡的是，大名鼎鼎的鳳蝶科只有26種，比眼蝶科還要少1種。

　　Nymphalidae butterflies are the largest group of recorded butterflies found in Ningbo. Many of them have strong wings for speedy flying. Others are fond of sucking animal excrement or garbage; still others like to drink bleeding sap from tree bark. The caterpillars of Nymphalidae butterflies also have their own characteristics. Species of this family – such as Vanessa indica (Indian painted lady), Vanessa cardui (painted lady), Araschnia doris and Symbrenthia lilaea (peninsular jester) – prefer the perennial plant ramie as the host, a trait they share with Actinote issoria (yellow coster) and caterpillars of ramie noctuid moths. The peacock pansy caterpillars tend to eat the leaves of Hygrophila ringens of the Acanthus family, while the Asian comma caterpillars only eat Japanese hop leaves.

　　作為寧波已發現并有記錄的蝴蝶種類中數量最龐大的蛺蝶科蝴蝶，它們有的翅膀厚實，飛行速度極快；有的喜歡吸食腥臭的動物糞便或垃圾；有的喜歡吸食樹皮上滲出的傷流液。而蛺蝶科蝴蝶幼蟲也各有特色：苧麻是大紅蛺蝶、小紅蛺蝶、曲紋蜘蛺蝶、散紋盛蛺蝶等蝴蝶的寄主植物，同時也深受苧麻珍蝶和苧麻夜蛾幼蟲的喜愛；美眼蛺蝶幼蟲則偏愛爵床科的水蓑衣葉片；黃鉤蛺蝶幼蟲只吃葎草的葉片等。

　　The great purple emperor (Sasakia charonda) rates a mention when it comes to the Nymphalidae family. In Ningbo, this pretty butterfly species could only be found in Dayan Town of Fenghua District. The orange oakleaf (Kallima inachus) of the same family sounds much plainer, but is famous for its “mimicry”—when closing its wings, it resembles a dead leaf. This camouflage means that few people ever see their colorful forewings. In sunshine, they send out a purple and blue gloss coupled with wide dark yellow stripes.

　　在那么多蛺蝶科蝴蝶中，大紫蛺蝶值得一提。此前只在奉化區大堰鎮現身，非常稀少�？萑~蛺蝶，聽名字“平平無奇”，但它的“擬態”特征在昆蟲界十分有名，它的翅膀反面就像一片枯葉。不過，很多人不知道的是，它的翅膀正面，在陽光下會散發出紫藍色光澤，還搭配有深黃色的寬闊條斑，與另一面截然不同。

　　In Ningbo, swallowtail butterflies (the Papilionidae family) rank fifth in terms of quantity but first in terms of attention. They are attractive for their colorful appearance, elegant dance and comparatively big size.

　　在種類數量排名前五的蝴蝶中，鳳蝶科蝴蝶無疑是最受關注的，原因只有一個：美！鳳蝶科蝴蝶的美，主要體現在兩個方面：首先，色彩夠鮮艷。其次，舞姿夠優美。而且它們大多體型較大，屬于中大型蝴蝶，更容易被看見。

　　Among the 26 species of swallowtail butterflies discovered and recorded in Ningbo, the most precious is the golden birdwing. Gold as its dominant color, this insect is adorned with black spots on its body, dark red hairs on the chest and neck, bird-wing shaped light stripes on the forewings and black stripes on the hindwings. It was first discovered and recorded in July 2009 in Zhanqi Town, Yinzhou District. Its caterpillars are born with a retractable organ behind their head which resembles the tongue of a snake. When the caterpillars get disturbed or stimulated, these glands extend and exude a strong aromatic odor that deters predators. This also distinguishes them from the caterpillars of other butterflies.

　　在寧波已發現并有記錄的26種鳳蝶科蝴蝶中，最珍貴的當屬金裳鳳蝶。它通體以金黃色為主，配有黑色斑點，胸部和頸部還點綴有深紅色茸毛，前翅有鳥翼狀的淺色脈紋，后翅黑色斑紋較多。金裳鳳蝶最早于2009年7月在鄞州區瞻岐鎮被發現并記錄。而鳳蝶科蝴蝶的幼蟲長有分叉的臭角腺，平時是縮在頭頂部里的，當受到驚擾或刺激時，會迅速彈出并散發出濃烈的芳香氣味，讓來犯者或天敵感到不適。這一特征，也是其他科蝴蝶幼蟲所不具備的。

　　It is not easy to record the species and quantity of butterflies. Some species may be very rare in one place, but are common in another, and vice versa. Lin proposed a reliable method of locating butterflies by searching for plants. Butterflies are known to rely on the host plants for their survival. No matter how lovely and beautiful the surroundings are, butterflies find them useless if there is no appropriate host plant.

　　蝴蝶種類和數量的統計頗有難度�？赡茉谝恍┑胤诫y得一見的蝴蝶，在其他地方就十分常見，反之亦然。林海倫梳理出一個比較靠譜的方法：識木尋蝶。蝴蝶的生存依賴于寄主植物。如果沒有相應的寄主植物，再好、再優美的環境對蝴蝶來說都是毫無意義的。

　　Residents in downtown Ningbo are most familiar with common bluebottle (Graphium sarpedon) and the tawny rajah (Charaxes bernardus). Their host plants are camphor trees that are found everywhere in the city. What’s more, Indian painted lady and Asian comma are also common in our daily life. In Siming Mountain, the Chinese peacock butterfly (Achillidesbianor Cramer), the spangle butterfly (Papilio protenor Cramer) of the Papilionidae family, the doublerday butterfly (Damora sagana) and the Indian fritillary butterfly (Argynnis hyperbius) of the Nymphalidae family are oft-found butterfly species.

　　在寧波城區，常見的蝴蝶主要是青鳳蝶和白帶螯蛺蝶，因為它們的寄主植物，是比較常見的香樟樹。此外，像大紅蛺蝶、黃鉤蛺蝶等也是多見的普通蝴蝶。在四明山區，常見的鳳蝶科種類有碧鳳蝶、藍鳳蝶等。蛺蝶科有青豹蛺蝶、斐豹蛺蝶等。

　　Butterfly species are generally quite limited in downtown Ningbo mainly owing to the lack of plant diversity. For butterfly caterpillars, sufficient quantities of honey plants are essential for growth. In nature, the survival of different butterflies depends upon the existence of suitable honey plants across four seasons, which is unlikely in urban areas.

　　總體來看，寧波城區的蝴蝶種類數量還是十分有限的，這跟植物多樣性不夠豐富有關。當蝴蝶“長”成成蟲，還需要有足夠的蜜源植物來延續生命。在自然界，不同季節都會有適合不同蝴蝶吸食的蜜源植物。而這一點在城市中是很難保持的。

　　“For that reason, if we want to see more butterfly species, we will have to expand the diversity of host and honey plants. Meanwhile, don’t use insecticides so as to protect the natural breeding of butterflies.” Lin noted.

　　“因此，如果想要看到更多不同種類的蝴蝶，我們就要多栽種一些不同的寄主植物和蜜源花卉植物，同時不可以噴灑殺蟲劑，吸引蝴蝶自己過來繁殖。”林海倫說。

　　Reporter: Shi Chengcheng

　　Translator: Mei Jie

　　Proofreaders: Huang Dawang, Lü Chang, Jason Mowbray