The first thing we did was visit a frog pond. It became very active with the fall of night, and there were quite a few Latouche's frogs leaping about. Some were relaxing on rocks.
Latouche's frog (Rana latouchii)
Here's an indigenous tree called the Hayata Fig, named after Bunzo Hayata, a Japanese botanist who discovered many species in Taiwan back during the Japanese occupation. Its Chinese name is "rough-leafed fig". As you can see, there are galls on the leaves. They contain larvae of the insect Sympauropsylla triozoptera, and the two species have somewhat of a symbiotic relationship.
Hayata Fig (Ficus irisana)
The owners had set up a fence designed as a place for caterpillars to pupate. Here's the caterpillar of a Golden Birdwing butterfly. Notice the orange organs sticking out by its head: these are defensive, emitting a foul odor to repel predators. And despite the caterpillar's fearsome appearance, the spikes on its body are not poisonous. It's an ugly caterpillar, but it becomes one of the most beautiful swallowtail butterflies!
Golden Birdwing larva (Troides aeacus formosanus)
We were also shown a kind of sumac tree that is used by the Aborigines as a source of tinder, and the seeds can be used as a seasoning for food. The Chinese name is "salt skin tree", and in English it's the Nutgall Tree or Chinese Sumac.
Nutgall Tree (Rhus chinensis)
Closeup of the leaves
The we went to a waterfall area, and in the pool below the waterfall was a freshwater crab.
Candidiopotamon rathbunae
In the same pool were some freshwater shrimp.
And finally, the piece de resistance, Swinhoe's Frog, only found in Taiwan. They like to cling to rocks by waterfalls.
Swinhoe's Frog (Odorrana swinhoana)
Here's a picture I took years ago of the same species, to give you a better idea of what it looks like:
After that we settled in for a long winter's sleep in our cabin room. Very quiet and comfortable, with nice warm blankets. Earlier, the campers who had set up their tents and RVs on the campground had been entertaining themselves with loud karaoke, but they had the consideration to stop it come nighttime.
By the way, here's a view of the camping area:
Pretty nifty, huh?
