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An article to understand the tooth shape of the colorful Japanese deep mountain spade armor

Foreword: Previously, we have introduced many varieties of shovels in Japan, such as Japanese spades, Japanese saw shovels, Japanese flat spades, Japanese round-winged shovels, and today we will have a comprehensive introduction to the Japanese deep mountain spade varieties.

Overview of Japanese spade cultivars

Variety overview: The number of varieties of Japanese deep mountain spades and China's deep mountain spades is really pitiful, only 3 independent varieties (including only 4 subspecies), namely Amami deep mountain shovel, Mizo deep mountain shovel, Japanese deep mountain shovel and Izu deep mountain shovel, of which Izu deep mountain shovel is a subspecies of Japanese deep mountain shovel.

Distribution: The above 4 species, in addition to the Japanese deep mountain spade is a widely distributed species in Japan, the rest are basically in the Japanese outlying island area, of which amami deep mountain shovel and Mizo deep mountain shovel are listed as endangered species by Japan and belong to the protected species.

Sino-Japanese differences: L. maculifemoratus has 6 subspecies according to the Classification of Japan, 2 species in Japan, and the remaining 4 species are distributed in the Korean Peninsula and China.

Among them, L. maculifemoratus dybowskyi and L. maculifemoratus taiwanus, two subspecies distributed in China, have been promoted to independent species by the domestic academic community after re-identification: that is, what we call the spotted deep spade, the former is determined to be the spotted deep mountain designated subspecies (L. dybowskyi dybowskyi), the latter is determined to be the spotted deep mountain Taiwan subspecies (that is, commonly known as the high sand spade). ,L.dybowskyi taiwanus )。

A list of shovels in the mountains of Japan

Well, without further ado, let's take a quick look at The Deep Mountain Spade armor in Japan.

A species endemic to Amami Oshima, Japan, large males have more inverted ear-like protrusions on their heads, longer forefoot shin segments, and a slightly inward curvature at the ends, usually small to medium-sized individuals in the wild; females have small and medium-sized segments on the dorsal plate of the forethia and elytra wings.

An article to understand the tooth shape of the colorful Japanese deep mountain spade armor

Amami deep mountain spade male insect

An article to understand the tooth shape of the colorful Japanese deep mountain spade armor

Amami deep mountain spade female insect

It was designated an endangered species by Japan's Ministry of the Environment in 2013, and in October of the same year, collection on Amami Island was banned. Due to the difficulty of breeding and breeding, coupled with the prohibition of wild harvesting, there is currently very little circulation in the Japanese market, and only a small number of individuals have been artificially bred before the prohibition of collection.

Amami shovel currently has a record of 54.5 mm (BeKuwa data)

The main habitats are Mizojima and Kamzu Island in Tokyo, which are small deep mountain spade armor, and the current breeding individual record is only 38 mm, but it is quite delicate. It is also an endangered species currently protected by Japan and is prohibited from being collected on the island. The wild is generally active from May to July, and it is mostly seen crawling on the ground.

An article to understand the tooth shape of the colorful Japanese deep mountain spade armor

Mizo deep mountain spade all black type

The male of the Mizo deep mountain spade has a strong amplitude of curvature at the end of the jaw, the elytra basically have black edges, the body color gloss is very good, but its biggest feature is that the color is changeable, in addition to the most basic black, summarized as roughly the following body colors:

Rhabdomym: Elytra are yellow and striped;

Brown striated head thorax: elytra can see yellow transverse stripes, while the dorsal plate of the head forethia is reddish brown;

Head forethia brown type: the dorsal plate of the head forethia is reddish brown, such as The Kamzushima individual is basically of this type, and the head is smaller and the hind feet are shorter;

Reddish-brown type: the whole body is reddish-brown, but it seems to be rare;

An article to understand the tooth shape of the colorful Japanese deep mountain spade armor
An article to understand the tooth shape of the colorful Japanese deep mountain spade armor

Mizo deep mountain spade blackhead yellow stripe type

An article to understand the tooth shape of the colorful Japanese deep mountain spade armor

Mizo deep mountain spade red head yellow pattern

Widely distributed throughout Japan, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, the Goto Islands and the Kuril Islands (Russia), it is a relatively large spade with a breeding record of 78.6 mm.

An article to understand the tooth shape of the colorful Japanese deep mountain spade armor

Japanese mountain spade

The male has a ladder-shaped protrusion in the center of the anterior head, and the surface of the body is covered with fine golden hairs. There are roughly three types according to the origin and tooth type:

Basic type: the largest, the length of the inner teeth near the base of the large jaw is between the other two tooth types;

An article to understand the tooth shape of the colorful Japanese deep mountain spade armor

Fuji type: The inner teeth near the base are the largest of the three tooth types, especially developed, and the large inner teeth may touch each other when the jaws are closed, and are more common in low-altitude mountainous areas.

An article to understand the tooth shape of the colorful Japanese deep mountain spade armor

Ezo type: The inner teeth near the base are the smallest, but the end of the large jaw is well developed, somewhat similar to the high sand deep shovel.

An article to understand the tooth shape of the colorful Japanese deep mountain spade armor

The Ezo type is common in high-altitude mountainous areas and the Hokkaido region, but with the warming of the climate in recent years, the basic type and Fuji type have also appeared in southern Hokkaido, while the basic type and the Ezo type have appeared in the central area of Hokkaido.

According to Japanese data, the above three tooth types are affected by the feeding temperature of the larval stage, based on the ordinary type, if the temperature is slightly higher, the Fuji type can be produced, and the Ezo type can be slightly lower.

Trivia: Some insect lovers may wonder why it is called Ezo type, because the main origin of the Ezo type is Hokkaido, and the ancient name of Hokkaido is called Ezo.

An article to understand the tooth shape of the colorful Japanese deep mountain spade armor

Inhabiting the Japanese Izu Islands (Izu Oshima, Toshishima, Niseshima, Kamizu island, Miyake island, etc.), it is one of the subspecies of the Japanese deep mountain spade, smaller than the original subspecies, with a breeding record of only 62 mm, and a field individual record of up to 70 mm.

The male of the Izu deep spade is underdeveloped and shorter, the end of the large jaw is smaller bifurcated, the head ear-like protrusion is underdeveloped, the anterior head is a ladder-shaped protrusion, the abdomen is larger, and the overall elytra looks more rounded.

An article to understand the tooth shape of the colorful Japanese deep mountain spade armor

Izu deep mountain spade male insect

Females have sharp horns at the anterior corners of the dorsal plate of the forethia. The color of the Izu deep mountain spade varies slightly depending on the place of origin, with individuals from Oshima Oshima and Rishima being black, and individuals from other islands being more red.

An article to understand the tooth shape of the colorful Japanese deep mountain spade armor

Izu deep mountain spade female insect

Postscript: From the above introduction, it can be seen that although there are not many varieties of Japanese deep mountain shovels, the body shape and color change of a single variety are still quite large, and the Japanese deep mountain spade has three different tooth shapes, and the Mizo deep mountain spade can appear at least 5 different body colors, which is still quite interesting.

If there is any error in the above, I hope that all the insect friends will correct it, thank you for reading!

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