Insect-obsessed PhD discovers 13 new species of crane flies

He made 283 insect specimens in two months; over two years he discovered 13 new species in the family Tipulidae; he traveled across 5 provinces in southern China in search of insects; wherever he goes for fun, he carries a butterfly net with him - he is Dr. Men Qiulei, the "insect expert" in the Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Anqing Normal University.

An avid specimen maker, he led his students in spending a year collecting more than 400 butterflies on campus. After careful selection, they used 200 butterflies of 42 species to create the large specimen work "Longshan Butterfly Language," which won first prize in the animal category of the 2016 Anhui Province College Student Biological Specimen Making Competition.

"I like collecting alone in the mountains, enjoying the process of catching bugs; it feels like treasure hunting." In 2016, to collect insects, he went to nature reserves in 5 provinces: Jiangxi, Hubei, Sichuan, Guangxi and Guizhou. Collecting insects in the southern mountains, where it is dark and damp, he often encountered leeches, and many times four or five would attach to his legs at once. "Each time a leech has had its fill of blood and drops off, that is when I feel the pain. I run into leeches on almost every collecting trip, so I have lost count of how many times I have been bitten by them."

In the more than two years since he began working at Anqing Normal University, Men Qiulei has discovered 13 new species in the family Tipulidae, and his papers have been published in multiple foreign scientific journals. "Insect groups are enormous and species are extremely diverse, so new species are actually not hard to find. At my supervisor's suggestion, I chose to study the crane fly group because few people research it and its foundation is weak, so there is still a lot of room for research."

Men Qiulei pointed to the specimen of "Tipula paracokerellae" hanging on the wall, which he and his students discovered in the Yaoluoping National Nature Reserve in Yuexi, Anqing. To conduct research on the family Tipulidae, he often goes to damp, dark areas suitable for crane fly survival, where they are easier to find. During the day he uses a butterfly net to catch them, and at night he uses a light trap to lure them. "Some crane flies like to gather toward lights at night. Compared with species that do not like light, they are easier to collect, so more research has been done on them. Those species that can only be collected during the day are difficult to collect and often cannot be found just by seeking them, so new species are more easily discovered."

Each time he catches a different crane fly, the first step is to make it into a specimen. Making crane fly specimens is very difficult because crane flies' legs are extremely slender and can be broken with the slightest carelessness, affecting the completeness of the specimen. Every time he makes a specimen, Men Qiulei is extremely careful. After the specimen is completed, it enters the identification stage: by consulting relevant materials, comparing characteristics with crane flies in the same genus, grouping commonalities and classifying individual differences. "This is quite time-consuming because it must be done very meticulously. If there are few species in that genus, identification can be completed in a few days, but some genera have more than 1,000 species of crane flies, so the comparison work can take several months." Men Qiulei's longest comparison work lasted as long as 3 months.

After the identification work is completed, Men Qiulei also needs to make scientific illustrations. He places the insect under a dissecting microscope and uses a technical pen to draw each key feature of the insect on tracing paper, even marking every bristle on its body one by one. After the drawing is completed, it is used as an illustration in an article, an appropriate journal is chosen for submission, and experts ultimately determine whether the new species can be established. The Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Southwest Anhui Biodiversity Research and Ecological Protection, approved in 2015, has complete molecular experimental equipment, providing convenience for Men Qiulei's crane fly taxonomic research and species identification. When publishing new crane fly species, in addition to morphological characteristics, Men Qiulei also adds DNA data to the article, providing more reliable evidence for the establishment of the new species.

Men Qiulei explained that more than 15,000 species of crane flies have been reported worldwide so far, while only more than 900 have been recorded in China. As a country spanning the Palaearctic and Oriental zoogeographic realms, China has extremely high species diversity, and more than 900 species is still a big gap from the crane fly species actually distributed in our country. Therefore, there is still a lot of basic work to be done in the taxonomic research of crane flies in China.

To make specimens, Men Qiulei has devoted almost all his rest time to the specimen room. "Whenever I do not have classes every day, I stay here. Some insects, because they have been preserved for a long time, are relatively stiff and must be softened with a relaxing jar. The wings of some insects are very fragile, so extra care is needed when spreading the wings." Men Qiulei said that when making specimens, one must concentrate and must not damage the insect's form, striving for completeness.

"The teacher once sighed for a long time because the tail of a butterfly was incomplete. Under his influence, we have become more and more rigorous in doing things," said Huo Ran, who makes specimens with Teacher Men.

Whenever Men Qiulei is mentioned, Professor Wu Ganlin, dean of the School of Life Sciences at Anqing Normal University, makes no secret of his appreciation for this young PhD: "Teacher Men often works in the laboratory on weekends and holidays, sometimes working until evening and taking the last school bus home. Steadily taking every step well, he is a role model for us scientific researchers." (Correspondent Xia Ying, Reporter Wang Lei)