Monday, December 19, 2011

News: 蘭嶼再發現渡海青斑蝶

轉載原文網址: http://e-info.org.tw/node/72469

2011年12月16日台東訊 特約記者湯谷明報導



2011 年 11 月 25 日,蘭嶼再次發現從日本屋久島飛越 1260 多公里而來的青斑蝶(Parantica sita niphonica)。在蘭嶼長期從事自然觀察及生態保育的當地居民王桂清,上溯椰油溪檢查水源地及觀察蝴蝶時,透過相機鏡頭赫然發現一隻正在吸食大花咸豐草的青斑蝶,左翅腹面標有 YAKU YK-107 字號,興奮地馬上按下快門,但是只拍到了一側的翅膀,於是他在大花咸豐草前守株待兔了一個多小時,最後終於拍到右前翅標有 11.08,右後翅標有 2011.11.06 號碼的另一側。



長期跨國研究青斑蝶移動的學者陳建志證實,這隻被拍攝到的青斑蝶是 11 月 6 日,在日本屋久島(位於九州東南外海的世界襲產場址),首次被久保田義則捕捉標記,11 月 8 日又於首次發現地 100 公尺遠處,再次由久保田義則捕獲;一直到 25 日在蘭嶼椰油村被發現,中間飛越 1260 公里,雖然前後差距 17 天,但是青斑蝶究竟花了多少時間完成這趟長途旅程,倒是個很有趣的問題。

陳建志表示,不同於台灣島內的紫斑蝶移動,台灣、日本間移動的青斑蝶是目前已知具有跨海長距離移動行為的蝴蝶之一。每年 6 月,部分台灣地區的青斑蝶會隨西南氣流飛至日本;9 月中旬後日本的青斑蝶則隨東北季風往南方散佈而到台灣。

陳建志同時也是台北市立教育大學地球環境暨生物資源學系主任,他為了研究青斑蝶移動的習性,自1997年開始與日本蝶類專家福田晴夫展開合作,進行台灣及日本兩地青斑蝶的標放及國際學術交流。到目前為止,一共有4隻在台灣標記的青斑蝶在日本被發現,10 隻日本標記的青斑蝶在台灣被發現,而其中就有5隻在蘭嶼捕獲,極高的機率讓日本學者及青斑蝶愛好者每年必到蘭嶼朝聖。

今年 11 月 21-23 日,日本大阪市立博物館研究員金沢至,及多位日本青斑蝶的研究同好,其中包括去年在蘭嶼捕獲日本標記青斑蝶的櫻井廣二,及長期在日本進行青斑蝶標放的藤野適宏、三枝博幸及橋本定雄等人,在台北市立教育大學青斑蝶研究團隊及台灣大學的陪同下,申請在蘭嶼進行青斑蝶標放研究。但因為氣候狀況不佳,且蘭嶼中橫公路旁的蜜源植物剛被清理影響蝴蝶吸食,所以今年可觀察到青斑蝶數量較往年減少許多,3 天下來僅標記近 40 隻。雖然未能親自捕獲有標誌青斑蝶而感到些許的遺憾,但日本研究團隊表示能親眼看到許多熱帶地區的昆蟲及體驗蘭嶼的人文,已經非常感動及滿足。



不同於以往,在台灣青斑蝶再捕獲都是由台灣的相關專業團隊或人士捕獲,今年是首次由蘭嶼居民發現,這也正代表當地居民開始重視島上的自然資源,並與專業研究團隊交流資訊。王桂清表示,蘭嶼因為資源的特殊性,因此吸引許多學者、專家進行長年的研究,但因為缺少地方居民參與的機制,所以研究結果只淪為白紙上的黑字,對當地沒有實質的助益。

王桂清說,達悟族從老祖先開始就知道要保護小島上的資源,使生活不虞匱乏;但現在觀光過度發展,生態受到大量破壞。所以他建議生態研究必須「在地化」,吸引當地居民參與長期的觀察監測,提供資料給公部門作為實施自然保育計畫的依據,因為蘭嶼島的動植物生態正是觀光經濟發展的最重要資產,唯有做好保育工作,才有永續發展的機會。

青斑蝶跨越海洋長距離的移動,最可能是受氣流影響。台灣及日本都有大量的志工投入,每年持續標放並追尋更多的青斑蝶移動資訊,期待逐年累積調查資料,以解開台灣、日本間青斑蝶移動的奧秘。陳建志表示,民眾如有捕獲或拍攝到有標記的青斑蝶,可聯絡台灣青斑蝶標放聯絡中心 Email:basintp@tmue.edu.tw 或(02)23113040 轉 3901 聯絡。
 

Saturday, November 12, 2011

便秘的病因



今天早上的閱讀進度 pp. 496-501. (已經突破500頁了!)
主要的內容是第十二章臟腑辨證的大腸病辨證和膀胱病辨證。
至此, 臟病辨證與腑病辨證都完成了。
接下來是臟腑兼病辨證。

今天閱讀大腸病, 其實很容易理解。
許多人有便秘的困擾, 可能的原因很多, 但卻很容易歸納。
大腸的功能是傳送糟粕, 排泄大便。大腸的工作環境必須有津液滋潤腸道。
所以只要是造成:

1. 腸中津液枯少,
2. 傳送無力 (function 無法作用)

就會造成便秘。

可以分成熱、氣(滯)、虛(氣血)、冷四種類型。
熱秘: 清熱導滯
氣秘: 順氣行滯
虛秘: 益氣養血潤腸
冷秘: 溫通開秘

再進一步探討: 虛秘。可分成氣虛和血虛。
氣虛造成傳送無力 (氣屬陽, 指功能, 所有臟腑功能的能量來源都是氣),
血虛則是造成腸燥, 即腸中津液枯少 (血和津液同屬陰液)
氣虛補氣, 血虛補血, 不要亂補一通。

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

值得紀念的一勝

真的要鼓勵一下蘋果日報!

王建民首勝的當天下午兩點多, 我在台南火車站拿到這張號外!

這可是台灣人民等了兩年多的勝利耶! (August 10, 2011)

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

沖繩小灰蝶的夏天 Summer of Zizeeria maha okinawana

自從六月底發現一隻沖繩小灰蝶在窗台的小盆栽中產下卵後, 我就開始照顧這些看起來非常不起眼的毛蟲,...

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Book: 微積分之旅



早上終於把這本放在床頭很久很久的書看完了。

微積分基本定理果然是現代科學的最重要的基石呀!

書中的第25章 在生者與死者之間 對於微積分基本定理的描述實在是太精采了, 是一般微積分教科書所遠遠不及的。其中, 把微分與積分之間的關聯, 用蝴蝶與毛毛蟲做為例子來類比, 真是妙呀!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

News: 獨角仙登場 樹林大同山 蟲蟲世界

自由時報 2011-07-14 記者謝佳君 新北報導 原始新聞連結



注意!新北市樹林區大同山有獨角仙出沒!時序進入獨角仙求偶、交配季節,大同山青龍嶺白雞油樹上,最近可以看到許多獨角仙活動的身影,在炎炎夏日增添朝氣與活力;但專家提醒,民眾來到山上只要觀賞就好,切忌捕捉,才能讓獨角仙長久繁衍,自然生態永續發展。

大約六月中、下旬,樹林大同山青龍嶺的白雞油樹上,就可以看見數隻黝黑發亮、身形飽滿壯碩、昂揚巨角的獨角仙,沿著當地店家「巧味土雞城」走,一旁白雞油樹上,數量更是多。

曾服務於林務局及在陽明山國家公園擔任生態解說員、樹林國小校長葉振翼說,每年大約暑假期間,是獨角仙覓食、求偶交配的時節,而白雞油樹又名光臘樹,其汁液微甜,因此,獨角仙經常棲息於上,有時也可以看到鍬形蟲。

葉振翼說,獨角仙通常於夜間行動,加上其趨光性,晚上八至十點,在白雞油樹或光亮處,可以看見更多的獨角仙;大概至九月,數量就會開始減少。

除了提醒民眾,到山上看獨角仙時,要注意蜜蜂或鍬形蟲也可能在白雞油樹上覓食,並慎防蛇出沒,最重要的是千萬不要捕捉獨角仙。

葉振翼說,由於台灣的獨角仙又大又漂亮,許多人常趁此時大量捕捉販賣,甚至被民眾把玩而一命嗚呼,造成現在獨角仙數量銳減。

葉振翼鼓勵民眾把握機會,到山上走一遭,在這個戶外自然教室來一趟生態之旅,但他提醒,只可遠觀,不要褻玩,也呼籲政府,應將獨角仙列為保育物種,禁止販賣,避免引發生態危機,也讓後代子孫都能看到這樣美麗的甲蟲。



真的很巧, 傍晚回家時, 在銘傳 AA 棟外細葉欖仁樹上發現的獨角仙雌蟲。 (July 14, 2011)

Saturday, July 02, 2011

進入閱讀第十章八綱辨證了!



上個星期終於把 第九章 四診 讀完了, 根據上一篇 部落格文章 的日期來看, 確確實實是整整讀了一年多的, 五十多個星期六上午。真是漫長!

Friday, February 11, 2011

厥陰風木

節錄自 圓運動的古中醫學, p.12
地面上屬陽,地面下屬陰。初氣之時*,大氣由寒而溫,地下水中所封藏經秋收來的陽熱,動而上升,此陽熱與水化合,是為木氣。木氣者,一年之陽根也。大寒節氣,當陰極之時,故稱厥陰。厥者,極也。木氣主動,動而不通則成風,故稱風木。


* 初之氣: 大寒、立春、雨水、驚蟄。

Friday, January 28, 2011

News: Nonfiction: Nabokov Theory on Butterfly Evolution Is Vindicated

New York Times
By CARL ZIMMER
Published: January 25, 2011


A male Acmon blue butterfly (Icaricia acmon). Vladimir Nabokov described the Icaricia genus in 1944. In a speculative moment in 1945, he came up with a sweeping hypothesis for the evolution the group of butterflies known as the Polyommatus blues, and 65 years later, DNA analysis has proved it correct.

Vladimir Nabokov may be known to most people as the author of classic novels like “Lolita” and “Pale Fire.” But even as he was writing those books, Nabokov had a parallel existence as a self-taught expert on butterflies.
He was the curator of lepidoptera at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, and collected the insects across the United States. He published detailed descriptions of hundreds of species. And in a speculative moment in 1945, he came up with a sweeping hypothesis for the evolution of the butterflies he studied, a group known as the Polyommatus blues. He envisioned them coming to the New World from Asia over millions of years in a series of waves.

Few professional lepidopterists took these ideas seriously during Nabokov’s lifetime. But in the years since his death in 1977, his scientific reputation has grown. And over the past 10 years, a team of scientists has been applying gene-sequencing technology to his hypothesis about how Polyommatus blues evolved. On Tuesday in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, they reported that Nabokov was absolutely right.

“It’s really quite a marvel,” said Naomi Pierce of Harvard, a co-author of the paper.


A male Andean blue butterfly (Madeleinea koa). A new study shows that the ancestors of this species colonized the New World from Asia via Beringia 11 million years ago.

Nabokov inherited his passion for butterflies from his parents. When his father was imprisoned by the Russian authorities for his political activities, the 8-year-old Vladimir brought a butterfly to his cell as a gift. As a teenager, Nabokov went on butterfly-hunting expeditions and carefully described the specimens he caught, imitating the scientific journals he read in his spare time. Had it not been for the Russian Revolution, which forced his family into exile in 1919, Nabokov said that he might have become a full-time lepidopterist.

In his European exile, Nabokov visited butterfly collections in museums. He used the proceeds of his second novel, “King, Queen, Knave,” to finance an expedition to the Pyrenees, where he and his wife, Vera, netted over a hundred species. The rise of the Nazis drove Nabokov into exile once more in 1940, this time to the United States. It was there that Nabokov found his greatest fame as a novelist. It was also there that he delved deepest into the science of butterflies.

Nabokov spent much of the 1940s dissecting a confusing group of species called Polyommatus blues. He developed forward-thinking ways to classify the butterflies based on differences in their genitalia. He argued that what were thought to be closely related species were actually only distantly related.


A male blue butterfly of the genus Lycaeides. The study shows that the ancestors of this species colonized the New World from Asia through Beringia approximately 2.4 million years ago.


At the end of a 1945 paper on the group, he mused on how they had evolved. He speculated that they originated in Asia, moved over the Bering Strait, and moved south all the way to Chile.

Allowing himself a few literary flourishes, Nabokov invited his readers to imagine “a modern taxonomist straddling a Wellsian time machine.” Going back millions of years, he would end up at a time when only Asian forms of the butterflies existed. Then, moving forward again, the taxonomist would see five waves of butterflies arriving in the New World.

Nabokov conceded that the thought of butterflies making a trip from Siberia to Alaska and then all the way down into South America might sound far-fetched. But it made more sense to him than an unknown land bridge spanning the Pacific. “I find it easier to give a friendly little push to some of the forms and hang my distributional horseshoes on the nail of Nome rather than postulate transoceanic land-bridges in other parts of the world,” he wrote.

When “Lolita” made Nabokov a star in 1958, journalists were delighted to discover his hidden life as a butterfly expert. A famous photograph of Nabokov that appeared in The Saturday Evening Post when he was 66 is from a butterfly’s perspective. The looming Russian author swings a net with rapt concentration. But despite the fact that he was the best-known butterfly expert of his day and a Harvard museum curator, other lepidopterists considered Nabokov a dutiful but undistinguished researcher. He could describe details well, they granted, but did not produce scientifically important ideas.

Only in the 1990s did a team of scientists systematically review his work and recognize the strength of his classifications. Dr. Pierce, who became a Harvard biology professor and curator of lepidoptera in 1990, began looking closely at Nabokov’s work while preparing an exhibit to celebrate his 100th birthday in 1999. She was captivated by his idea of butterflies coming from Asia. “It was an amazing, bold hypothesis,” she said. “And I thought, ‘Oh, my God, we could test this.’ ”


The study took eight years and involved collecting samples from Canada to Patagonia. Roger Vila, one of the authors of the study, is shown prospecting in the Cajamarca region of Peru.

To do so, she would need to reconstruct the evolutionary tree of blues, and estimate when the branches split. It would have been impossible for Nabokov to do such a study on the anatomy of butterflies alone. Dr. Pierce would need their DNA, which could provide more detail about their evolutionary history.

Working with American and European lepidopterists, Dr. Pierce organized four separate expeditions into the Andes in search of blues. Back at her lab at Harvard, she and her colleagues sequenced the genes of the butterflies and used a computer to calculate the most likely relationships between them. They also compared the number of mutations each species had acquired to determine how long ago they had diverged from one another.


A greenish blue Icaricia saepiolus waiting for the sun on a dandelion. Its ancestors crossed from Asia to the Americas through Beringia nine million years ago.

There were several plausible hypotheses for how the butterflies might have evolved. They might have evolved in the Amazon, with the rising Andes fragmenting their populations. If that were true, the species would be closely related to one another.


The study confirms Vladimir Nabokov's biogeographic hypothesis for the colonization of the New World by Polyommatus butterflies. They crossed from Asia to the Americas through Beringia at least five times in the last 11 million years.

But that is not what Dr. Pierce found. Instead, she and her colleagues found that the New World species shared a common ancestor that lived about 10 million years ago. But many New World species were more closely related to Old World butterflies than to their neighbors. Dr. Pierce and her colleagues concluded that five waves of butterflies came from Asia to the New World — just as Nabokov had speculated.

“By God, he got every one right,” Dr. Pierce said. “I couldn’t get over it — I was blown away.”

Dr. Pierce and her colleagues also investigated Nabokov’s idea that the butterflies had come over the Bering Strait. The land surrounding the strait was relatively warm 10 million years ago, and has been chilling steadily ever since. Dr. Pierce and her colleagues found that the first lineage of Polyommatus blues that made the journey could survive a temperature range that matched the Bering climate of 10 million years ago. The lineages that came later are more cold-hardy, each with a temperature range matching the falling temperatures.

Nabokov’s taxonomic horseshoes turn out to belong in Nome after all.

"What a great paper," said James Mallet, an expert on butterfly evolution at University College London. "It's a fitting tribute to the great man to see that the most modern methods that technology can deliver now largely support his systematic arrangement."


A group of Polyommatus blue butterflies gathering in humid soil. The study shows that Beringia has served as a biological corridor for their dispersal from Asia into the New World, as is the case with other animals, including humans.

Dr. Pierce says she believes Nabokov would have been greatly pleased to be so vindicated, and points to one of his most famous poems, “On Discovering a Butterfly.” The 1943 poem begins:
I found it and I named it, being versed

in taxonomic Latin; thus became

godfather to an insect and its first

describer — and I want no other fame.
“He felt that his scientific work was standing for all time, and that he was just a player in a much bigger enterprise,” said Dr. Pierce. “He was not known as a scientist, but this certainly indicates to me that he knew what it’s all about.”