Moulded Insect Display

Item1
Chinese name	七星瓢蟲
Scientific name	Coccinella septempunctata
Common name(s)	Ladybird
Order	Coleoptera
Family	Coccinellidae
Appearance	C. septempunctata has a hemispherical body characterised by a flat abdomen. Its distinctly spotted wings are in such colours as red, yellow and black.
Biology	Both larvae and adults are carnivorous. They feed mainly on small insects of the sub-order Homoptera, such as aphids, psyllids, and scale insects.

Item2
Chinese name	琉球橘黃蟌
Scientific name	Ceriagrion auranticum
Common name(s)	Orange-tailed Sprite
Order	Odonata
Family	Coenagrionidae
Appearance	C. auranticum has green compound eyes, and its frons and vertex are orange. It has an orange prothorax, olive-green pterothorax and orange-red abdomen. Its wings are transparent with orange pterostigmas.
Biology	C. auranticum is a species of damselfly. Like dragonflies, damselflies are masters of flight in the insect world. When they fly, they can move each of their 4 wings independently, changing their orientations or even bending them. With this feature, they can pull off all sorts of flying stunts, such as hovering in the air, gliding with the wind, and making sharp turns.

Item3
Chinese name	金梳龜甲
Scientific name	Aspidomorpha sanctaecrucis
Common name(s)	Tortoise Beetle
Order	Coleoptera
Family	Chrysomelidae
Appearance	A brilliant gold insect, A. sanctaecrucis has a rounded body that is dorsally convex. It measures 10-16 mm in length and 9.8-15 mm in width, and ranges from yellowish brown to reddish brown in colour. Its back flattens out towards the perimeter with a transparent edge slightly curled up.
Biology	The insect uses plants of the Convolvulaceae, Verbenaceae and Magnoliaceae families as hosts. It is distributed in China (Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan and Yunnan), Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Indo-China, the Malay Peninsula and the Sunda Islands.

Item4
Chinese name	葉脩
Scientific name	Phyllium bioculatum
Common name(s)	Leaf Insects
Order	Phasmida
Family	Phylliidae
Characteristics	P. bioculatum undergoes gradual metamorphosis. Although related to stick insect, it resembles a leaf rather than a stick. Green or brown in colour, this sexually dimorphic insect can be found in Southeast Asia.
Biology	The insect is nocturnal and feeds on plant leaves with its chewing mouthparts.

Item5
Chinese name	碧蛾蠟蟬
Scientific name	Geisha distinctissima
Common name(s)	Asiatic Green Flatid, Green Broad-winged Flatid, Green Flatid, Asiatic Flatid
Order	Homoptera
Family	Flatidae
Appearance	The body of G. distinctissima is covered with white waxy powder. This short-antennaed insect has wings with straight, flat edges. Its beautiful yellowish-green forewings have yellow cross veins spreading across their surface.
Biology	It sucks sap from host plants that include economic crops like citrus, jujube, persimmon, white mulberry, peach, plum, bayberry, grape, fig, sugar cane and chrysanthemum.

Item6
Chinese name	蔗蝗
Scientific name	Hieroglyphus spp.
Common name(s)	Rice Grasshopper
Order	Orthoptera
Family	Catantopidae
Characteristics	Grasshoppers of the genus Hieroglyphus are medium to large-sized insects with incomplete metamorphosis. Their forewings, or tegmina, are long, narrow and slightly hardened; the hindwings are membranous and fan-shaped. Some species are short-winged or even wingless. The long hindlegs of grasshoppers are well-suited for jumping. Rubbing them against the veins of the wings causes vibrations and produces sounds.
Biology	They feed on gramineous plants such as sugar cane and rice.

Item7
Chinese name	擬旖斑蝶
Scientific name	Ideopsis similis
Common name(s)	Danaus similis, Radena similis
Order	Lepidoptera
Family	Nymphalidae
Appearance	I. similis is a medium-sized butterfly. It has forewings shaped like a right-angled triangle and fan-shaped hindwings, with 4 stripes of light blue radiating from the base of the blackish-brown wings.
Description	There are about 16 000 recorded species of butterflies around the world. Among them, 1 300 species can be found in Mainland China and 235 species in Hong Kong. The urban parks of Hong Kong are host to 48 species of butterflies from the families Hesperiidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae, Nymphalidae and Satyridae.

Item8
Chinese name	蝴蝶蛹
	Butterfly pupae
Description	The pupal stage comes after the larval stage in the life cycle of butterflies. Caterpillars usually do not eat inside the pupae while their internal organs are remodelled to form adult parts such as wings and legs.

Item9
Chinese name	蝴蝶幼蟲
	Butterfly larva
Description	The pupal stage comes after the larval stage in the life cycle of a butterfly. The caterpillar usually does not eat inside the pupa, while its internal organs are remodelled to form adult parts such as wings and legs.

Item10
Chinese name	蝴蝶卵
	Butterfly eggs
Description	Butterfly eggs come in different shapes and colours. They can be spherical, tyre-like or bun-shaped, and can be yellow, white, green or brown in colour.

Item11
Chinese name	蝴蝶交尾
	Mating of butterflies
Description	Butterflies can live up to 11 months, though some have a much shorter lifespan of a mere few weeks. As they reach adulthood, the males are busy searching for mating partners, and the females have to find hosts to lay eggs on. With such a packed schedule, it is vital for butterflies to get adequate nutrients to keep the generations going.

Item12
Chinese name	麗盾蝽
Scientific name	Chrysocoris grandis
Common name(s)	Stink Bug
Order	Hemiptera
Family	Scutelleridae
Characteristics	C. grandis goes through incomplete metamorphosis. It has piercing-sucking mouthparts, forewings that are leathery basally and membranous distally, and hindwings that are entirely membranous or degenerated. The species has many varieties, most of which are pests or pathogen carriers. When disturbed, the insect squirts a foul-smelling liquid which causes localised scorching and wilting upon contact with young leaves, flower spikes or shells of fruit, or a burning sensation on human skin. In case the liquid enters the eye, wash immediately with water and do not rub the eye.
Biology	C. grandis has a range of host plants including oil-tea camellia, orange, pear, chestnut and wrightia. Nymphs and adults pierce and feed on the hosts' flowers, leaves, fruits and shoots.

Item13
Chinese name	廣斧螳
Scientific name	Hierodula patellifera
Common name(s)	Giant Asian Mantis
Order	Mantodea
Family	Mantidae
Appearance	H. patellifera is large in size. It has a pronotum that extends sideways, and forelegs with a coxa bearing 3 to 5 small triangular tubercles. The insect is usually green, though there are rare brown ones.
Biology	H. patellifera feeds on small insects. It is the commonest mantis in Hong Kong, and is widely distributed over Southeast Asia and Central America.

Item14
Chinese name	夾竹桃白腰天蛾
Scientific name	Daphnis nerii
Common name(s)	Oleander Hawk-moth, Army Green Moth
Order	Lepidoptera
Family	Sphingidae
Characteristics	D. nerii undergoes complete metamorphosis. Its wings, when fully spread, are 95 to 110 mm wide. There are light green patches on the upper wings, and a horizontal white and brown band can be seen across the wings when the moth comes to rest.
Biology	The larvae of the insect feed on plants in the family Apocynaceae. It is common to find them on periwinkles, which are widely planted in parks.

Item15
Chinese name	龍眼雞
Scientific name	Fulgora candelaria
Common name(s)	Lantern Fly
Order	Hemiptera
Family	Fulgoridae
Characteristics	F. candelaria secretes a white powdery wax from its abdomen, hence the alternative common name Lantern-fly. Certain members of the species have luminous parasites in their abdomen and, as a result, glow in the dark like a lantern. There has not been any sighting of such glowing flies in Hong Kong though.
Biology	F. candelaria prefers longan tree as its host plant, with the same tree being home to generations of the insect.

Item16
Chinese name	原野華麗蜾蠃
Scientific name	Delta campaniforme
Common name(s)	Yellow Potter Wasp
Order	Hymenoptera
Family	Eumenidae
Appearance	The insect is eye-catching with its tricoloured body of red, black and yellow.
Biology	Females carry water from water areas in their mouthparts to muddy grounds to build nests in concealed places with mud balls made out of mud and the water in their mouth. With the nests almost done, they take off to catch moth caterpillars. The prey, paralysed by the poisonous sting of the females, are put into the nests, which are sealed after the females lay eggs in them. As the moth caterpillars are only paralysed, not killed, they are kept from rotting and stay fresh as food for the larvae of D. campaniforme as soon as they are hatched.

Item17
Chinese name	黃偉蜓
Scientific name	Anax immaculifrons
Common name(s)	Fiery Emperor
Order	Odonata
Family	Aeshnidae
Appearance	A. immaculifrons is a gigantic dragonfly with a wingspan of up to 125 mm. The males have a reddish-brown ringed abdomen, while the abdomen of the females have yellow and reddish-brown rings.
Biology	A speedy flyer and skilled hunter, A. immaculifrons can be found in upland mountain streams. Dragonflies, in general, can move each of their 4 wings independently when in flight, changing their orientations or even bending them. With this feature, they can pull off all sorts of flying stunts, such as hovering in the air, gliding with the wind, and making sharp turns.

Item18
Chinese name	蜻蜓的稚蟲
	Dragonfly nymph
Description	Dragonfly nymphs are hatched from eggs in the water. They have a stout and short body, antennae, large eyes, a retractable lower jaw, 2 pairs of wing buds on the back and 3 spinous processes on the tail. The nymphs undergo a number of moults, generally ranging from 8 to 14 depending on the species, before reaching maturity. They then crawl onto land and emerge into adulthood.

Item19
Chinese name	蜻蜓產卵
	Oviposition of dragonflies
Description	One of the ways for female members of the family Libellulidae to oviposit, or lay eggs, is to let the eggs sink into the water while keeping the tip of the abdomen close to the water surface. Other modes of oviposition include: 1) females dipping their abdomen into the water and inject their eggs into the stems of aquatic plants; 2) females diving into the water with the males and injecting the eggs into the stems of aquatic plants; 3) females ovipositing and dropping the eggs into the water while mating with their male partners in the air; and 4) females ovipositing on branches close to the surface of the water, so that the nymphs from hatched eggs will drop into the water and begin their aquatic nymphal stage.

Item20
Chinese name	蜻蜓交尾
	Mating of dragonflies
Description	During mating, the male grasps the female behind her head or the pronotum of the thorax with the sex organ at the tip of his abdomen. He then bends his abdomen downwards, and the female curves her abdomen upwards, pressing the tip of the abdomen against her partner's sex organ. A heart shape is thus formed by the mating pair.

Item21
Chinese name	棉桿竹節蟲
Scientific name	Sipyloidea sipylus
Common name(s)	Phasmids, Walking Sticks, Leaf Insects
Order	Phasmatodea
Family	Diapheromeridae
Characteristics	S. sipylus goes through gradual metamorphosis. Green or brown in colour, this sexually dimorphic insect resembles a bunch of twigs when it is not in motion.
Biology	S. sipylus is nocturnal and feeds on plant leaves with its chewing mouthparts. It aligns its 3 pairs of legs alongside the body to simulate a twig in order to escape the attention of enemies. Some may even rock from side to side, mimiking twigs swaying in the wind. Other tricks to escape from danger include playing dead by falling off trees to hide among dead leaves on the ground. The insect can also shed a leg to effect an escape. The lost limb can be regenerated when it moults again.

Item22
Chinese name	葉脩
Scientific name	Phyllium bioculatum
Common name(s)	Leaf Insects
Order	Phasmida
Family	Phylliidae
Characteristics	P. bioculatum undergoes gradual metamorphosis. Although related to stick insect, it resembles a leaf rather than a stick. Green or brown in colour, this sexually dimorphic insect can be found in Southeast Asia.
Biology	The insect is nocturnal and feeds on plant leaves with its chewing mouthparts.

Item23
Chinese name	中華麗葉脩
Scientific name	Phyllium sinense
Common name(s)	Leaf Insects
Order	Phasmida
Family	Phylliidae
Characteristics	P. sinense goes through gradual metamorphosis. Although related to stick insect, it resembles a leaf rather than a stick. Green or brown in colour, this sexually dimorphic insect can be found in Southeast Asia.
Biology	The insect is nocturnal and feeds on plant leaves with its chewing mouthparts.

Item24
Chinese name	斑蟬
Scientific name	Gaeana maculata
Common name(s)	Spotted Black Cicada
Order	Hemiptera
Family	Cicadidae
Characteristics	G. maculata undergoes incomplete metamorphosis. Its black body is covered in black hairs, with longer hairs on the head and tail.
Biology	Cicadas have such unique life cycles that we can only catch a glimpse of their life in the summer. Before emerging as adults by moulting, cicada nymphs live underground and often lie low in the soil for several years. Some species of cicada in the United States spend up to 17 years below the surface.