類別

昆蟲與蜘蛛（昆蟲）

參賽者

陳裕隆

作品名稱

青黑蠟蟬四態 Four Glimpses of the Lycorma olivacea Planthopper

科學圖說 Scientific introduction

青黑蠟蟬有四態：若蟲第1-3齡的體色為黑色，身上遍布白色斑點，到第4齡時，體色大部分轉變為橘紅色，足部仍維持黑白色。剛羽化為成蟲時，翅膀跟身體同樣為鮮豔的紅黑色，成熟時又轉變為青黑色，真是一隻奇妙多變的生物。由於早期缺乏對牠的研究，常把紅黑色翅的型態稱為紅翅蠟蟬；把藍黑翅的型態稱為藍翅蠟蟬，一種生物變成兩個物種。直到近幾年有較多的研究，終於確定不論紅翅或藍翅，都是同一種昆蟲，只因不同時態而造成顏色不同。一隻昆蟲的觀察，需要時間跟耐心來做紀錄，從若蟲到成蟲，需要經幾個月多次的拍照記錄才得以完成。核對圖鑑等參考資料時，如果發現有欠缺的情況，需要定點多次紀錄並觀察，將資料補足，才得以確認這隻昆蟲的生活史。

The four glimpses of Lycorma olivacea planthopper: In the 1^st-3^rd instars, the nymph is black with white spots. In the 4th instar, it is mostly reddish orange with white spots. Right after eclosion, it becomes red and black, while the adult is greenish black. Due to early lack of its research,the two forms were once treated as two distinct biological species. The red-black newly merged adult was named Lycorma meliae, while the greenish black mature adult was named Lycorma olivacea. Recently, it was confirmed that they are conspecific. Documenting the life cycle of an insect requires time and patience. Several months were needed along with numerous photographing and recording sessions. On top of that, I crosschecked references to identify the species and completed several field trips to verify its life history.