The post-90s village cadres "played with bugs" brought fire to their hometown
He is a post-90s "team leader" who "plays with bugs". For 8 years, he "uses insects as a medium" to bring fire to his hometown, attracting many insect research enthusiasts and tourists to his hometown, Lincang City, Yunnan Province. County Shui Batou Village.
His name is Xiong Zichun, because he had a strong interest in nature since he was a child. After graduating from Yunnan Agricultural University in 2013, he returned to the mountains with rich biodiversity to support the development of his hometown, engaged in the investigation of insect diversity, and discovered and co-published Lincang. There are 13 new insect species in the region, 1 new recorded species in China and 1 new recorded species in Yunnan.
Recently, in an interview with a reporter from the Yangtze Evening News/Ziniu News, he said: "Every time a new target insect is caught, it is like meeting a long-distance girlfriend who is longing for a long-distance relationship. The most romantic thing to do an insect diversity survey is to give New species discovered are named."
Ziniu News reporter Zhang Bingjing Jiang Tiansheng Source of material / provided by the interviewee
"Chasing insects" village cadres
The rainy season is approaching in May
It's a good time to go up the mountain to "catch bugs"
With the arrival of May, the rainy season in Yunnan is approaching, and it is the best time to "catch bugs".
In the past few days, Xiong Zichunzheng and his colleagues have been monitoring vegetation of different ecological types on Ailao Mountain in Jingdong County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, recording the habits and habitats of insects, collecting insects and making specimens for research and popular science.
Since the end of 2021, he has become an observer at the Ailaoshan Subtropical Forest Ecosystem Research Station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his work has been busier than before.
He is the team leader of the Damtou Group in Manwan Town, Yunxian County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province, and is also a short video blogger about insect popular science. He initially followed him because he posted a lot of interesting videos on his Kuaishou account. The video attracted the attention and discussion of many insect lovers, and everyone left comments and likes: "This is a positive science blogger", "The blogger has brought us knowledge!" "The scenery where the blogger visits is too beautiful, good I would like to have a chance to see it!”
Xiong Zichun, born in 1990, graduated from Yunnan Agricultural University majoring in plant protection. After graduating in 2013, he returned to the village to support his hometown and do insect biodiversity surveys.
He had a strong interest in insects and plants since childhood. After graduating from high school, he became the second college student in the village.
He learned the professional skills of field insect investigation in college. "Later, I learned that the school has an entrepreneurial project for college students to support insect research, so I formed an entrepreneurial team with my friends. After graduation, I took this project back to the village. ."
Xiong Zichun told reporters that the unique ecological environment of his hometown has brought a broad horizon to the investigation of insect diversity, so he spends about half a year in the wild every year, in addition to doing insect background surveys around the village, he also cooperates with major universities. Go to a specific area to do insect diversity surveys with the research team, and there are labor costs to maintain basic living expenses.
Although he doesn't have much income, he enjoys doing the field work he likes.
In Shuibatou Village, Manwan Town, Yunxian County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province, because all the young people in the village have gone out to work, there are many left-behind elderly people and children.
"I am a relatively young adult in the village, so I often help children with their homework and teach the elderly to use smartphones." Xiong Zichun told reporters that now he will also take the children in the village to a safer place to observe. Collecting insects, "can cultivate children's interest in nature from an early age, and also make them feel that their hometown is very beautiful, with many cute and comfortable little insects."
Stung by wasps, sucked blood by leeches
The most romantic is naming new species after relatives and friends
The work of doing insect surveys and research in the wild is full of joy, but also encounters some dangers.
"Once we went to the Nujiang River, the mountains on both sides of the river were very steep. We squatted at the foot of the mountain in order to find the target species. Suddenly, we heard a loud bang behind us. We turned our head and found that the weathered stone on the mountain had fallen. It was also very fast. At that time, we were very panicked, thinking that the whole mountain was about to collapse. Everyone ran wildly, and it took a long time to stop." Xiong Zichun said that he broke out in a cold sweat and felt that life was very fragile for the first time. Do you want to continue working like this.
But after sleeping for a while and waking up the next day, the fear faded a little. "The love and persistence of insects have overcome timidity."
Xiong Zichun said that more dangerous than encountering falling rocks was encountering a wasp, "I have an allergic constitution, and I was stung by a wasp once. Maybe the venom was injected near my blood vessels. The allergic reaction was particularly strong, and my eyes were swollen. I couldn't open it, I had difficulty breathing, and after a while I started to vomit. My companion immediately took me to the hospital, but he took me to the small clinic in the village after nearly an hour of tossing me in a very remote mountain. At that time, I was almost I fainted, the doctor gave me a drip, and I lay down for a while before slowly recovering."
Xiong Zichun told reporters that what he is most afraid of is wasps. As for being bitten by leeches, he has become accustomed to it. "Once I went to Guangxi, where the altitude is low, it is hot, and there are many leeches. I returned to my residence after collecting insects that day. , When I went to take a bath after finishing the specimens, I saw a leech on my foot, which was sucking my blood all the time, and its body swelled up a lot. Because the pain of being bitten by a leech was not strong, I never noticed it before. It took a few minutes to rinse with the hottest water." Xiong Zichun said: "The leeches are actually not poisonous, they just suck some blood, and they look disgusting, much better than wasps."
During the eight years of insect surveys in his hometown, Xiong Zichun discovered and co-published 13 new insect species in Lincang, 1 new recorded species in China, and 1 new recorded species in Yunnan.
"Many insects are very cute. For example, I prefer the long beetle. Their surfaces will show different colors and shapes." Every time a new insect is discovered, Xiong Zichun is very excited. "I still remember doing biodiversity surveys. It was the first new species discovered since my nephew was born, so I named the new species by his nickname 'Yifan'." Xiong Zichun told reporters that a particularly romantic place for insect surveys is the new species. In addition to its main characteristics, the species can be named by names of people he thinks are important or words with commemorative meanings. He once used his sister's name "Ziyue" to name the new species of insects he discovered.
Advocate for the hometown
with insects,
Attract more attention to your hometown
In 2017, short videos were very popular, and Xiong Zichun also began to shoot some short videos of insects. At first, the filming was very simple, without commentary and subtitles, and almost no one paid attention.
"Once, I saw a creator posted a video of himself discovering Ye Zongxiu ( ), which has millions of views, and many netizens left messages asking what species is this? Is it poisonous? Why does it look like It looks like a leaf? I just wrote a paragraph in the comment area, explaining the classification status, living habits and knowledge of 'mimicry'." To Xiong Zichun's surprise, his comment got thousands of likes Likes, and even hundreds of people follow his account.
So, he simply became a blogger seriously, explaining while filming, and adding special effects and text himself.
In his videos, you can see dead leaf nymphs that are completely integrated with dead leaves, stick insects that look like leaves, and various other magical and interesting insects.
His in-depth introduction allows people to gain professional entomology knowledge in just a few minutes.
"Many insect research scholars or enthusiasts have known me through the Internet, and they have come to our village for inspections, and tourists have also come to check in. This year, CCTV also reported on our village. I am very happy to use my professional knowledge to promote my hometown. "Xiong Zichun, with the support of the Beijing Entrepreneurs Environmental Protection Foundation, transformed his new house into a rural museum, filled with all kinds of insect specimens. The research route of urban youth science popularization, and the development of ecological tourism in the village.”
In Xiong Zichun's impression, many years ago, the production development in the village was relatively extensive, and herbicides were used more, which had a certain impact on the ecology of the village. The villagers began to realize the importance of green development and actively participated in the greening and beautification and ecological restoration of Shuibatou Village, further laying a solid foundation for rural tourism.
While doing insect science, let more people know about their hometown, which is the most gratifying thing for Xiong Zichun.
Regarding the future, Xiong Zichun said: "I will continue to study in depth, and I will continue to study in depth, and I will do more interesting insect science popularization, so that the rich natural resources of my hometown will be better known. Let the concept of protecting the environment be more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.”