Ailao Mountain is not only a place of sorrow for scientific research victims, but also a place of brilliant life stories

Ailao Mountain has entered the public eye because of a regrettable accident during an expedition. What does the real Ailao Mountain look like? Behind the mystery, there is also a brilliant legend of life here.

A while ago, the news that four geologists died during an expedition spread all over the major media and the Internet, attracting widespread attention from all walks of life. While everyone felt sorry for the four "post-80s" and "post-90s" expedition workers, "Ailao Mountain" seemed to have entered the public's field of vision overnight. However, when I saw that "Ailao Mountain" was dubbed "dangerous" and "full of dangers" after this incident, I couldn't help but feel very uncomfortable...

Ailao Mountain is located in the central part of Yunnan, which is known as the "Treasure House of Biodiversity in China". It is the main extension of the Yunling Mountains to the south. It corresponds to Wuliang Mountain in the distance. It is the dividing line between the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the Hengduan Mountains, and it is also the watershed between the Yuanjiang River and the Amo River. It is named after the ancient Ailao Kingdom. The highest peak is more than 3,000 meters above sea level, which makes it have multiple climates such as cold temperate zone, temperate zone, warm temperate zone, northern subtropical zone, middle subtropical zone, and southern subtropical zone. Because of this, Ailao Mountain has bred a very rich and diverse range of creatures.

△High altitude environment in Ailao Mountain

Taking vegetation distribution as an example, Ailao Mountain has multiple environments, including evergreen broad-leaved dwarf forest, shrubs, meadows, semi-humid evergreen broad-leaved forest, monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest, coniferous forest, mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest, and dry-hot river valley vegetation belt, which is not common in the entire mountain system of China.

I was lucky enough to have conducted a long-term survey of flora and fauna in Ailao Mountain, and encountered a variety of flora and fauna living there. This time, I will introduce to you the real Ailao Mountain in my eyes, based on my scientific expedition experience and some of the flora and fauna I saw!

Lucky! My first encounter with the red warty newt in the wild

There are many kinds of animals in Ailao Mountain, including plants, insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and even mammals. According to statistics, there are nearly 30 kinds of amphibians living in Ailao Mountain. So, let's start with two kinds of amphibians!

At that time, I wanted to record as many creatures in Ailao Mountain as possible, so the strategy I chose was to rest and sleep at noon and in the afternoon, and spend the rest of the time on field surveys. In this way, I can observe creatures that are active during the day and at night at the same time. I remember one time, the horizon was already slightly white, and I was returning along the road to the reserve. After all, I had not slept all night, and I was constantly sleepy. I didn't have the mind to focus on the plants and trees around me. During this monotonous journey, I suddenly found a large red figure crawling in the ditch beside the road. When I got closer, I found that it was the red warty newt known as the "golden unicorn"! This beautiful and mysterious amphibian I had only seen in documentaries, magazines and museums before. In an instant, I was no longer sleepy! I immediately picked up the camera and took a lot of photos of it!

△The red warty newt, known as the "golden unicorn"

The red warty newt is an amphibian that lives in medium and high altitudes. They like to move around not far from the water and mainly feed on insects and other invertebrates. Every summer, the red warty newts that enter the breeding season will lay eggs in groups in relatively quiet water bodies. Due to human activities, hunting and habitat reduction, the number of red warty newts in the wild is currently under great threat. For this reason, they are listed in the list of China's second-class protected animals.

This was the first time I saw a wild "golden unicorn". In the following inspections, I also saw red warty newts several times in Ailao Mountain. Their appearance is also an important sign of the cleanliness of the water and good ecology of Ailao Mountain!

△The red warty newt likes to live near water

△The red warty newt is a symbol of the good environment of Ailao Mountain

After many visits, I finally saw the legendary "Bearded Frog"

Because the habitat of Ailao Mountain is rich and unique, it not only breeds rich biodiversity, but also is home to a large number of Chinese endemic species. When it comes to the most famous Chinese endemic species in Ailao Mountain, it must be the Ailao Bearded Toad named after "Ailao Mountain".

The Ailao Bearded Toad belongs to the genus of the family ...

△“Bearded Frog”——Ailao Bearded Toad

Among the five species of the genus Ailao, the Ailao Ailao has the most "beards", up to 24 of them, which is why the most people like them. Before I went to Ailao Mountain for the first time, I hoped to photograph this famous flagship species of Ailao Mountain. However, although I almost searched all the possible stones in the streams where they were produced, I didn't see them...

△Ailao bearded toad likes to live under the rocks in the stream

Afterwards, I asked the staff of the local protection station and learned that under normal circumstances, the probability of Ailao bearded toad appearing in the stream is not high. It is only during their breeding season that their traces can be found in the stream with a high probability. When I heard this information, I was actually a little frustrated. Because in order to photograph the abundant animals, I chose to go to Ailao Mountain in summer, and the breeding season of Ailao bearded toad is from February to March every year. This shows that the probability of encountering it when I first went to Ailao Mountain is very low. In the end, as expected, I did not see any trace of Ailao bearded toad...

A few years later, a friend and I went to Ailao Mountain during the breeding season of the Ailao bearded frog, with the purpose of finding an adult Ailao bearded frog. The mountain stream was freezing cold at that time. We turned over stones along the stream from the afternoon until dusk, when we accidentally found this majestic bearded frog. In fact, we had almost given up at that time, and being in the low-temperature stream for a long time also caused us to lose our physical strength quickly. But when we saw the real Ailao bearded frog, almost all the pain was worth it. Indeed, leaving behind the ecological image of the Ailao bearded frog is the dream and goal of every researcher who goes to Ailao Mountain!

△The Ailao bearded toad is the species of the genus Toad with the largest number of "beards" in China.

Feel the joy of the birdsong valley

The geographical location of Ailao Mountain also determines that it will nurture a large number of flying feathers. It not only contains two key bird areas of BirdLife International, but more importantly, it is the most important bird migration channel in southwest China. After continuous investigation by scientific researchers, nearly 300 bird species have been found to inhabit Ailao Mountain, and this number is likely to continue to rise.

Walking in the jungle of Ailao Mountain, you will never feel lonely even if you are alone. The melodious chirping of various birds makes people feel relaxed and happy. Among the many birds living here, there are also a large number of national first- and second-class protected animals, such as alpine vultures, snake eagles, forest eagles, scimitar-billed storks, ring-necked mountain partridges, white-bellied pheasants, black-necked long-tailed pheasants, and white pheasants. It is precisely these rich bird species that attract a large number of bird watchers to come here to photograph them every year.

△Scissor-billed stork resting on a branch

Every time I go to Ailao Mountain for an investigation, I will gain a lot of "personal new records" - that is, birds that I have never photographed or even seen before. For example, I live in Beijing and have a special liking for pigeons since I was a child. After all, when I was a child, it was the pigeon whistles outside the window that woke me up from my dreams almost every day. For this reason, every time I see pigeons in the wild, I will raise my camera and take pictures of them. In Ailao Mountain, I also took pictures of the most beautiful "turtle dove" I have ever seen since I was a child - the green-winged golden pigeon!

△Beautiful green-winged golden dove

When talking about turtledoves, I believe many friends will first think of the color matching of the spotted dove and the mountain dove: light pink body, gray head, and dotted spots on the neck. The green-winged golden dove living in the southwestern mountains breaks the conventional color matching: the lower side of the head, neck and abdomen are still pink, but the top of the head is a striking silver-white, matched with green wings and bright red beak, making its "appearance" doubled!

△A green-winged golden dove landed on the road

When I first saw it, I was not sure if it was a pigeon or not. I was really amazed by its color combination. Of course, among the many birds in Ailao Mountain, the Green-winged Golden Pigeon is just one of them. If you happen to be a bird-watching enthusiast, then Ailao Mountain must be your ideal bird paradise.

△White-cheeked Laughingthrush can be observed near the station

△The silver-eared leiothrix, which is difficult to observe

△The blue-throated sunbird, also known as the "Chinese hummingbird"

The empire of insects

In fact, the animal group I am most concerned about is insects, which is why I chose to go there in summer for the first time. The vegetation in Ailao Mountain is rich, so there are a large number of insects living here. Due to limited space, I will introduce several interesting representatives here.

First of all, when introducing the first insect, I would like to ask you a question: Do you know how dragonflies lay eggs? Perhaps many friends will blurt out: "That must be a touch of water! Dragonflies touch water!" That's right! In fact, many dragonflies lay eggs by the female insect touching water, but in fact, there are more than one way for Odonata insects to lay eggs, such as diving eggs, airdrop eggs, etc. Among all the ways of laying eggs by dragonflies, the most interesting one is the cōng family. They don't lay eggs in the water at all, but choose to lay eggs on branches and other places. I have always paid attention to Odonata insects, so I naturally want to look for them in the wild. It was Ailao Mountain again that made me get what I wanted and see this magical and beautiful species for the first time.

△Cerithidae insects like to lay eggs on tree branches

What I saw in Ailao Mountain was the thin-bellied green dragonfly, which not only had compound eyes like crystal balls, but also had a metallic luster. The color of its body almost blended into the environment. If it hadn't been for the blue-gray color of the last two abdominal segments after flying, which exposed its whereabouts, I might have really missed it.

The family of Synapteridae belongs to the suborder Homoptera in the dragonfly family, which is what we often call "damselflies". However, most people think that damselflies are small, but this understanding is undoubtedly wrong. Take the slender-bellied green sympetrum for example. Their body size is medium to large in the dragonfly family. Perhaps this is the reason why their flying speed is not very fast, but they dance like fairies in the jungle.

△The body color of the green dragonfly blends in with the surrounding environment

During the daytime in Ailao Mountain, you can see all kinds of butterflies flying among the flowers and drinking beside the stream. It can be said that walking in the jungle of Ailao Mountain, you can really feel what it means to be surrounded by bees and butterflies. Among the many butterfly species I have photographed, the one that gave me the most sense of accomplishment was a butterfly species that is not good-looking - the Decuo (pronounced: cuò) gray butterfly. After hatching from eggs, this gray butterfly will secrete a syrup that ants like very much. This syrup will quickly attract ants and carry them back to the ant nest to feed them in order to obtain more syrup, which is also the survival strategy of the Decuo gray butterfly.

△The Desmos butterfly is about to leave the ant colony

You know, in the insect family, almost no species dares to provoke ants. For this reason, many insects will imitate the behavior of ants. However, the Defile Gray Butterfly chose to directly attract ants and let the ants protect themselves, which is a superior strategy. When the Defile Gray Butterfly pupates and emerges in the ant nest, it will crawl out of the ant nest, wait for its wings to fully stretch and take off, getting rid of the ants. Therefore, it is not difficult to encounter the Defile Gray Butterfly, but if you happen to encounter a Defile Gray Butterfly that has just crawled out of the ant nest and is accompanied by several ants, it is not so easy. During the investigation in Ailao Mountain, we were very lucky to encounter this scene and recorded it. When we admire the pictures in our camera, we are grateful for the grace of Ailao Mountain and the grace of nature!

In fact, during the investigation in Ailao Mountain, we also encountered many interesting insect groups: various stick insects under the moon, the burial beetle known as the "corpse decomposer" and "insect forensic doctor", the extremely rare ancient slender-legged mantis, etc. If you also want to have a beautiful encounter with these interesting six-legged elves, you might as well go to Ailao Mountain and go to nature. I believe that when you squat down and observe them carefully, you will definitely gain a lot of interesting things!

△Many stick insects under the night sky

△The very precious ancient slender-legged mantis

△Dew-tailed True Burial Armor

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Ailao Mountain - it is actually very beautiful!

Whether it is the natural environment or the animal and plant resources, Ailao Mountain is one of the indispensable treasures of Yunnan and even the whole of China. In this article, I only introduce the stories of two amphibians and several insects during the investigation. In fact, the true life legend of Ailao Mountain cannot be fully told in words. Its diverse environment, beautiful scenery, and smart life make the entire Ailao Mountain exude infinite vitality. And such a natural environment, we must not only use "dangerous" and "crisis-ridden" to describe it.

In fact, I would like to appeal to the vast number of field workers and enthusiasts regarding the accident of the Ailao Mountain scientific expedition personnel. First of all, strong field ability does not mean that you can be brave. We need to always have a heart of awe for nature and fully understand the safety hazards in nature in order to complete the scientific expedition tasks well and safely. In addition, before going to the field for investigation, it is also necessary to make a full plan for the investigation environment, including the geographical environment, the distribution of animals and plants, and even the local folklore and legends. This information can often help us at many times. I hope that this incident is not only a pity for us, but more of a reminder and lesson.

I also believe that the beautiful natural treasure of Ailao Mountain will attract more nature lovers to explore; this beautiful natural treasure will continue to breed countless lives; this beautiful natural treasure will always emit its brilliant and inextinguishable light of life under the concerted efforts of many conservation workers! ■

Written by Wang Tian (Earth Memory Studio)

Editor: Liu Zhao Photo: Wang Tian

New Media Editor/Lv Bingxin

Produced by: Science Central Kitchen

Produced by: Beijing Science and Technology News | Science Plus Client

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