| Luehdorfia taibai Chou is mainly found in specific localities on the south slopes ofTaibai Mountain. Its host plant is Saruma henryi, but the larvae can also eat other plants, suchas some species of Asarum and Aristolochia when starvation. It is a endemic species in Chinaand its population is small and declining. The study sites are in West Qingling includingChangan, Huxian, Taibai, Ningshan, Zhouzhi, Meixian counties. In this thesis，we record andanalyze the life history, behavior, life table, ovipositional requirements to environment andessential information of the habitat of Luehdorfia taibai in wild. Finally, the causes ofendangering are analyzed and a protection plan is proposed. It is univoltine and the pupae lastabout300days. The pupae emerge in the afternoon and adults then fly and look for nectarplants along a river. Its main nectar plants are Cerasus pseudocerasus (Lindl.) Loudon， C.polytricha (Koehne) T. T. Yu&C. L. Li Delphinium giraldii Diels and others. When adultsare captured, they gradually lost vitality until they died. This is similar to the stress reaction ofsome birds, and most severe in gravid females. There are54fertilized eggs at most in afemale adult, but there are fewer than30eggs in a cluster. Eggs are half spherical, surfacesmooth, and light yellowish at beginning of spawning. Before hatching, egg shell turn whiteand transparent, black point-like head capsule can be seen inside the eggs. Natural enemy canprey on eggs and the rate of hatchability of eggs can reach90%. The larvae remain together inthe first and second instars. They then diffuse to avoid predators in the dead leaf layer fromthe third instar. They pupate on a dead leaf or in a crack in the stone at fifth instar. Predationby natural enemies and a low pupation rate are the main factors limiting their population size.Their ovipositional environment is as follows: elevation usually between1000m-1400mabove sea level, forest canopy density less than60%, host plant density less than2per squaremeter, with substrate of a thick layer of dead leaves. There is also a natal habitat preferenceinduction due to the female choosing the ovipositional environment. Adults choose places thatare open with more nectar plants to visit and their flowers attract mates to copulate. Thisenvironment is different from ovipositional environment.“China Species Red List” listLuehdorfia taibai as "Vulnerable". Compare with Bhutanitis thaidina that distribute in thesame area, the distribution of Luehdorfia taibai is narrow and the the maximum amount ofeggs, number of visible adults, the population of the studying area of life table are similar or fewer, so we suggest to set Luehdorfia taibai in endangerment categories. Key factors thatnegatively affect the population of Luehdorfia taibai are high canopy density, habitat loss anddeterioration, and collecting. These key factors differ on the south slope and north slope of theQinling Mountains. On the north slope of Qinling Mountain, little human disturbance resultsin the secondary forest being extremely dense and this negatively affects the adults’ activity ofvisiting flowers, copulation and egg laying. In contrast, on the south slope of QinlingMountain, too much human disturbance including lumbering and gardening is leading to theloss and deterioration of habitat. Since there is some collection of eggs and larvae on both thenorth and south slopes, we can take limited actions to protect Luehdorfia taibai. In thesituations where there is a high canopy density, we can introduce regular coppicing andgrazing. Because felling of too many canopy trees is unpractical and prohibited, it is onlynecessary to open a few areas to provide habitat patches. On the southern slope of the Qinlingmountain where there is habitat destruction, we must carry out strict labor management anduse artificial propagation to restore the habitat and increase the population. Moreover, thegovernment must strictly prohibit the collection of the eggs and larvae of Luehdorfia ltaibai. |
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