Some insects come under the close scrutiny of Li Zejian at Baishanzu National Park. [Photo/Lishui Daily]

Li Zejian loves nature and he's a specialist in insectology – the study of the relationship between insects and humans. As such, he spends half his time in the mountains, studying sawflies – non-stinging wasp-like insects – and butterflies.

He works at the research management center of the East China Medicinal Plant Garden in Lishui city, located in East China's Zhejiang province.

His main research area is Baishanzu National Park, a place rich with biodiversity and beautiful scenery. Li first visited the park in 2008, when he was a master's degree student and he quickly became enamored by the variety of plants and insects there.

Since then, the specialist has been collecting specimens and writing papers about sawflies. He has published six books and 95 papers on the topic and has also reported 141 new species of sawflies.

Butterflies are another group of insects the enthusiast studies. He has recorded 283 species of butterflies in the Baishanzu National Park. Moreover, Li has published an illustrated handbook on them, which won an award for agricultural science and technology. Now he plans to publish another volume with more species.

Li says he hopes to find more attractive insect species in the park in the next few years. It is not only for scientific knowledge, but also for conservation and education.