Cicadas are musicians of the nature. The singing of Cicadas echoes one after another if you walk into the woods on a summer day. The loudest summer-day singing voice in Taijian comes from the Taiwanosemia hoppoensis. Cicadas are an insect commonly seen in Taiwan; they are rich in variety and in number and have an amazingly loud voice. Cicada sloughs left after emergence are a childhood memory and an object for collection for many.
The only cicada in the world named after “Taiwan”; the emergence of the Taiwanosemia hoppoensis is amazing.
At present, Taiwan's popular science books on cicada ecology are mostly translated from foreign countries, talking mostly about cicada ecology in foreign countries, as opposed to in Taiwan. Taiwanosemia hoppoensis is unique and more important than other Taiwan-based cicada species because the research results in terms of the “complete life history and ecology” about them are readily available for sharing. Taiwanosemia hoppoensis is a species endemic to Taiwan; their largest habitats are dispersed among the windbreak forest in the Chengxi area of Taijian National Park. As such, Taijian Administration entrusted Professor Chang Yuan-mou from the Department of Ecology and Environmental Resources of the National University of Tainan to publish a popular science book on species endemic to Taiwan. The book is written based on Professor Chang Yuan-mou’s first-hand research and survey results over years and gives a detailed yet intuitive description of the ecology and underground life history of Taiwanosemia hoppoensis, with amazing pictures, hand-drawings, and cicada chirping audio. This is a rarely seen popular science book on Taiwan’s indigenous species, allowing beginners who are interested in insects to learn about the cicadas’ ecology and stories at ease.
The book was honored as “Selected Star”, a recognition for excellent reading materials recommended by the Ministry of Culture to junior high school students and elementary school students.
Taiwan Twilight Cicada, a popular science book published by Taijian, converts esoteric science research into an intuitive popular science book. It stood out from more than 3,000 participating books and was honored as the Selected Star in “The 43rd Selection and Recommendation on Good Reading Materials for Junior High School and Elementary School Students” organized by the Ministry of Culture (MOC). Members of the Selection Committee of MOC specially recognized this book by making a commentary that this book was a long-term study by a local writer, that it used fine pictures and simple text to give a detailed description of Taiwanosemia hoppoensis, and that it was an important publication in terms of science research, preservation, and popular science. The commentary also stated that the book used humorous text to interpret complex science research, which greatly enhanced the interest and comprehension of the teenagers reading it and thus was one of the 10 selected natural and popular science books.
To let more people learn about Taiwanosemia hoppoensis, a new book launch was held on August 21, 2011, during which the authors Teacher Chang Yuan-mou and Teacher Chung Chao-chin, and Internet celebrity and biologist Teacher Yen Sheng-hung were specially invited to interact with the public, talk about the popular science book Taiwan Twilight Cicada, share insect secrets, first-hand research materials and interesting stories that are not commonly seen. The guests at the venue also revealed the frustration and mental journey that the authors experienced when converting the first-hand research results into an interesting popular science book, so that people understand the difficulty in conversion into a popular science book. The scene was full of humorous conversations.
If you want to learn about Taiwanosemia hoppoensis in a funny way, you are welcome to buy the book at the Government Publications Bookstore, Wu-nan Books, Zhengda Bookstore (Tainan), the shop at the Visitor Center, online shopping malls, etc.