Don't know what to do with your kids? Why not look for spring bugs?

Audit expert: Li Weiyang

Well-known science writer

Spring is here, the weather is getting warmer, and it is a good time to enjoy flowers and go outings. Do you have any plans to go out and get closer to nature?

In addition to the fragrant and beautiful flowers, have you noticed that with the arrival of spring, the insects that have been hiding for a winter have also quietly revealed their bodies. When we go out for an outing, how can we find and identify these spring insects? Today, the editor has compiled some common insects that may appear outdoors in spring. When you appreciate the flowers, don't forget to observe these elves in the flowers~

What butterflies are there in spring?

The sea of ​​rapeseed flowers in spring is a must-see. When you admire the endless golden waves of rapeseed flowers, have you noticed a few "white flowers" flying among the golden rapeseed flowers? That's right, these are the cabbage butterflies (Pieris rapae).

Source: Wikipedia

Cabbage butterflies are active for a long time and can be seen in Beijing from the end of March to November every year. These small white butterflies always like to fly among flowers, looking for pollen and mates. If you tie a white round paper with a thin line and wave it among the flowers, it may attract many male cabbage butterflies who mistake the paper for female cabbage butterflies and fly around it.

In addition to the cabbage butterfly, there is another butterfly that is very common in communities and parks, and that is the Polygonia c-aureum. The Polygonia c-aureum appears mainly from April to September. They overwinter as adults, so you can also see this butterfly when the weather warms up in spring. If you see a butterfly with yellow wings with black spots in the spring, it is likely to be a Polygonia c-aureum.

Source of the yellow hook butterfly: Wikipedia

It is worth noting that the Vanessa is a "four-legged butterfly" because its two front legs are always retracted in front of the body and are not used for walking, so when you observe a Vanessa, you will find that they always look like they have "four legs".

The origin of the "four-legged" butterfly丨Wikipedia

When it comes to butterflies, the swallowtail butterfly is indispensable. In spring in Beijing, you can see a very beautiful large swallowtail butterfly, the pepper swallowtail butterfly (Papilio xuthus). Its larvae mainly feed on the leaves of Rutaceae plants such as pepper and citrus. In the south, they mainly eat the leaves of citrus plants, so they are also called citrus swallowtail butterflies.

Source of Zanthoxylum chinense butterfly丨Wikipedia

What kinds of bees collect honey?

In addition to the butterflies flying among the flowers, there are many small insects busy around the flowers in the park in spring. Yes, they are various bees. With the arrival of spring, the bees gradually wake up from hibernation and start looking for pollen and nectar.

The bees commonly seen in Beijing are mainly the artificially introduced Italian honey bees (Apis mellifera ligustica), while the Chinese honey bees (Apis cerana. cerana) originally distributed in East Asia are now very scarce, with only a small number of artificially bred populations left in Beijing.

Italian honey bee source | Wikipedia

Source of Chinese honey bee丨Wikipedia

In addition to the two types of bees mentioned above, there is another type of bee that is huge and looks like a flying hair ball. It is the bumblebee (Bombus). The bumblebee is covered with hair and has a very sturdy body. It looks like a simple and honest bear. No wonder people gave it such a name.

Like honey bees, bumblebees also build nests and live in groups, but they are not as social as honey bees. Another difference from honey bees is that bumblebee stingers do not have barbs and can be reused. So although bumblebees look simple and cute, it is better not to provoke them when you see them in the wild.

Bumblebee, does it have a bit of the honesty of a black bear?

Source: Wikipedia

There is another kind of insect that is neither a bee nor a wasp, but is mixed in the flowers. It looks very similar to bees and wasps. This is the hoverfly (Syrphidae). Common hoverflies in Beijing include black-banded hoverflies, gray-banded hoverflies, and rat-tailed hoverflies. They protect themselves from natural enemies by disguising themselves as bees and wasps with poisonous stings. This behavior belongs to Batesian mimicry, which is to protect themselves by imitating poisonous or dangerous creatures.

Black-banded hoverfly Source: Wikipedia

However, from our human perspective, there are still great differences between aphid flies and bees. For example, bees have relatively large antennae, while the antennae of aphid flies are typical of Diptera insects and are very short. In addition, aphid flies have a pair of very large compound eyes, which, like flies, occupy more than half of their head, while bees' compound eyes are not that big. The most obvious point is that aphid flies belong to the order Diptera and have only one pair of obvious wings (the hind wings degenerate into stabilizers), while bees belong to the order Hymenoptera and have two pairs of wings!

What insects are there in the grass and on the roadsides?

After looking at the flowers, let's take a look at what insects are active in the grass and on the roadside. In addition to insects, you can also find many snails in the cracks of stones and under the bark of trees on the roadside in spring. In Beijing, the most common ones are the gray snail and the striped snail. Basically, you can find them attached to tree trunks and stones all year round. You can only see snails crawling when it rains.

Source of Chinese snail丨Author

If you find a small mound of dirt in the cracks of floor tiles, it is likely the home of pavement ants (Tetramorium). When the weather warms up, these little ants begin to open up their nests that have been sealed for the winter, collect food, and clean up the garbage accumulated in their nests during the winter. You can find many such ant nests in the courtyard of the Beijing Science Center. Be careful not to disturb them!

The origin of the ant nest at Beijing Science Center | Author

In mid-to-late April, an insect that Beijingers are very familiar with begins to hatch, which is the Lycorma delicatula, commonly known as "Flower Bengbeng". When they are young, they are black or reddish black with white spots on their bodies. Because they wear "flower clothes" and like to jump, people give them the name "Flower Bengbeng".

The origin of the nymph of the spotted wax cicada丨Baidu Encyclopedia

There are many other insects in spring, such as aphids that can be found on many kinds of plants and various ladybugs that catch them (such as the seven-spotted ladybug and the multicolored ladybug), wasps which are also bees but mainly feed on carnivorous food, and so on.

Seven-spotted ladybug source: Wikipedia

After knowing so many spring insects, are you eager to go out to nature? When you go out for an outing on the weekend, remember to say hello to these cute little elves!