A young man’s journey from rare discoveries to teaching the next generation of insect lovers

Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Zhao Mei) news: How to tell a damselfly from a dragonfly? "Look — a damselfly’s eyes are on the sides of its head, and its forewings and hindwings are the same size. A dragonfly’s eyes almost meet in the middle, and its hindwings are broader than its forewings." On May 4, 2026, by the Manas River valley in Xinjiang, 27-year-old Ni Ziyang held a gorgeous damselfly and explained carefully to a group of children. After listening to him, the kids brought him the insects they had caught for identification, treating him as a walking “insect encyclopedia.”

Photo taken on May 4, 2026, Ni Ziyang explains insect knowledge to his students. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/Zhao Mei)

With a sun-reddened face, glasses, and a fluffy head of hair, the young man strode briskly through the river valley and desert. Soon, one by one, he pulled out from under rocks and grass the creatures the children had only seen in books: a solifugid (camel spider), a cave-dwelling wolf spider, a desert stick insect, a pale cone mantis, a Chinese ornate katydid, and others.

A childhood love, planted early

Ni Ziyang’s originally from Shihezi City, northwest China’s Xinjiang. Like many children, he loved catching bugs when he was small. He raised snails and katydids, read Fabre's Book of Insects, and spent hours in the park watching spiders hunt and reproduce.

At 13, while he was skiing, he found the remains of a sunspider in a corner. He had only ever read about this desert predator and thought it was mysterious and far away — never imagined it could live right around him. From then on, he kept looking for a live camel spider.

Two years later, in the spring, he and his father finally found one under a rock. He took it home and raised it for seven months, discovering that it was not picky. “It would eat anything — crickets, flies, mosquitoes.” After three months, the sunspider stopped eating and drinking, entered a semi-dormant state, and eventually died.

“Watching it lie still made me truly realise how short an insect’s life is,” he said. Some live only a few months to a year, others just days.

Perils behind the passion

In high school, recommended by his teacher, he took part in a biology project competition. For his project, he went into the wild to catch the “white-faced katydid” (later identified as the warty shield katydid) mentioned in Fabre’s book. Every day he carefully fed it vegetables, fruit, and crickets, raising it from a thumb-nail-sized nymph to an adult before releasing it back into nature. Based on this, he completed his project report Life History of Orthoptera Insects and won first prize in the competition.

Photo taken on the night of August 9, 2024, Ni Ziyang encounters a new species, the Rozhdestvenskya satanas (Brevirostriger sp.), at Aydingkol Lake in Turpan, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

But his time with insects was not without suffering.

Before leaving for university in Zhengzhou City, central China’s Henan Province, he was stung on the knee by a wasp while observing insects in a park. He didn’t think much of it at first, but soon he was hospitalised with a fever, half his leg swollen, and the sting site even caved in. Only later did he learn that wasp venom can dissolve muscle. “After I recovered, a hard lump remained in that sunken spot.”

The worst was in the summer of 2022. While surveying in the desert of northern Xinjiang, he encountered a long-clawed like scorpion (Olivierus longichelus). “When I reached out to catch it, it stabbed my index finger. The sting went straight through my glove, and the pain shot from my finger to my elbow. My finger went numb.” He applied first aid and drank large amounts of water; by the next day, feeling returned to his finger. “That experience taught me how strong this scorpion’s venom is — once it hits its prey, there’s almost no chance of escape.” Even after being stung many times, he still wants to find out what mysteries these insects hold.

Leaving a stable job to chase bugs full time

Six years ago, in his junior year of university, Ni Ziyang was introduced to Wang Rui and joined a community-based nature conservation group dedicated to wildlife survey, protection, and education. During every winter and summer break, he followed the team into the field to explore bugs and watch birds. “Slowly, I realised that this was the life I wanted,” he said.

Photo shows Ni Ziyang explains the habits and characteristics of Neurobasis chinensis (the splendid demoiselle) to his students. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/Zhao Mei))

In the summer of 2024, Ni made a decision his family found hard to understand: he quit his job at a large state-owned enterprise in Beijing and returned to Shihezi to become a full-time “insect chaser.”

On the night of August 9, 2024, while walking with a flashlight by Aydingkol Lake in Turpan, several insects flew toward the beam. Among them was one he had never seen before. “I felt it shouldn’t be here.” He took a photo with his phone and sent it to experts. It was identified as a new species—Rozhdestvenskya satanas—China's third known species of the family Nemopteridae, filling a gap in the record of nemopterid species in the Palearctic region of China.

This discovery strengthened his resolve even more.

“At that moment, I suddenly felt that all those years of searching and observing had been worth it.”

On June 28, 2025, Ni took his father on a trip to a grassland in northern Tacheng. In a thicket of bushes, he spotted a large insect basking in the sun. “It was 10 cm long, grass-green all over, something like a mantis but noticeably larger than a mantis.” He moved closer for a better look and almost shouted with joy—the insect was the extremely rare Saga pedo in China.

Photo taken on June 28, 2025, Ni Ziyang found a Saga pedo, a species rare in China, in a grassland in northern Xinjiang. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

This insect had first been found in Xinjiang by researchers in the summer of 1987 in the Tacheng area and listed as a new record for China. Ni’s discovery not only updated the species’ distribution record within China but also provided valuable data for understanding Xinjiang’s ecosystem diversity and for studying the insect’s life habits and reproductive strategies.

From raising a camel spider at 13 to becoming a “walking encyclopedia” for children today, Ni Ziyang has spent more than a decade demonstrating what true passion means. Once, someone asked him if it was worth it. He smiled and replied, “In my eyes, every insect is an open book — I’m just someone who’s willing to read it carefully.”

Now, Ni Ziyang is an important member of a natural science and technology company, leading group after group of primary and secondary school students into the wilderness, passing on the love and knowledge he has accumulated over more than ten years to the next generation.

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