Yin Xiangchu: The World’s Leading Expert on Grasshoppers

With no regrets for his youth, Yin Xiangchu was dedicated to the study of grasshoppers, a pursuit that led him across the wind-swept sands of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, where every step forged a lasting connection to that rugged land; time passes by, unable to erase the unforgettable memories of narrowly escaping death several times; indifferent to fame and fortune, he poured his life’s savings into publishing works on grasshopper research; and now, well into his advanced years, he still strived tirelessly to benefit future generations – this is the true portrayal of Yin Xiangchu, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Professor at the College of Life Sciences, Hebei University. He proposed pioneering insights on the adaptability, evolutionary approaches, and wingless forms of grasshoppers on the plateau, clarified the adaptive evolution of endemic species in the extreme elevations of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and created A New Taxonomical System for Grasshoppers in China, recognized worldwide as the “Yin Xiangchu Classification System.” Even in his nineties, he continues to write prolifically, publishing a series of monographs that systematically compile the global distribution catalog of Orthoptera insects, propelling China’s grasshopper taxonomy to the forefront of international research.

Devoted to One Cause for a Lifetime, Scaling the Heights of Science

In 1949, the 15-year-old Yin Xiangchu graduated from junior high school and was admitted to Nantong Agricultural School, majoring in agricultural product processing – learning brewing, soy sauce making, bread baking, etc. His dream at the time was to open a shop after graduation. During that period, Huaiyin Prefecture suffered severe grasshopper plagues, but there was a shortage of professional pest control personnel. Farmers lost their crops, struggling with food and clothing shortages, so his original major was abolished and replaced with the Department of Plant Protection. After graduating in 1952, Yin Xiangchu was assigned to Siyang in northern Jiangsu to take charge of grasshopper control. By the Hongze Lake, as a professional, he served as the “chief strategist for grasshopper control,” and over two years, his footprints covered the 150-li lake embankment around Hongze Lake. These experiences in combating grasshoppers subtly foreshadowed his future path. Due to his outstanding performance, Yin Xiangchu was recommended to Shandong Agricultural College, where he became a glorious member of the Communist Party of China.

After graduating from the Department of Plant Protection at Shandong Agricultural College in 1958, Yin Xiangchu fellowed the organizational arrangements and went to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, teaching at Qinghai Agricultural and Animal Husbandry College. In 1962, he was transferred to the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and after several twists and turns, finally began his research on grasshopper taxonomy. From then on, he dedicated his entire life to this single cause.

Life on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was extremely harsh – he spent at least half of each year collecting specimens in the wild, crossing snow mountains, wading through gobi deserts, and traversing uninhabited zones, with his footsteps covering every corner of Qinghai and Tibet. Three times, Yin Xiangchu narrowly escaped death three times.

“Twice I suffered from altitude sickness and fainted, but woke up 20 minutes later and went straight back to work immediately.”

“Another time, our truck almost overturned in a tributary of the Yarlung Zangbo River – the cliff was over 200 meters deep, and no one would have survived the fall. Fortunately, a large boulder supported the truck’s rear wheels and saved our lives,” recalled Academician Yin Xiangchu vividly.

The harsh conditions of cold, thin air, and intense ultraviolet radiation deterred many, but Yin Xiangchu persisted like a soldier, refusing to retreat until victory. He stayed on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for 38 years.

Through decades of field collection and research on the plateau, Yin Xiangchu proposed groundbreaking theories: the adaptive evolutionary pathways and wingless forms of grasshoppers in high-altitude regions, systematically clarifying: the strong winds on the plateau inhibit grasshopper flight, leading to wing degradation; as wings are key structures for sound production, their degradation further causes the loss of sound-producing organ function; the degradation and disappearance of sound-producing organs directly result in the gradual degradation and eventual loss of auditory organs. Therefore, grasshopper species inhabiting high-altitude areas, characterized by the absence of wings, sound-producing organs, and auditory organs, represent the most evolved groups and are precious endemic species of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

In 1982, Yin Xiangchu published A Study on the Taxonomic System of Chinese Acridoidea, proposing a new taxonomic system for Acridoidea that was later named the “Yin Xiangchu Classification System” by domestic and foreign peers.

Two years later, his academic monograph Grasshoppers of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, based on this classification system, was published, attracting great attention from the international entomological community. Professor Rago, a renowned foreign scholar, called it “an indispensable reference for studying Eurasian grasshoppers.”

In 1987, Yin Xiangchu was invited by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences to present his work in Washington,D.C.

In 1990, he published Taxonomy of the Caelifera (Acridoidea) of North America, establishing a new taxonomic system for North American Acridoidea, proposing that Tanaoceridae is an intermediate type in the evolution from katydids to grasshoppers, and revealing the evolutionary laws of grasshoppers – achievements widely praised and adopted by peers worldwide.

In June 1995, Yin Xiangchu was selected as one of China’s Contemporary Scientific and Technological Elites by UNESCO and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and in October of the same year, he was elected a Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In 1996, Yin Xiangchu published the English monograph Catalogue of the World’s Grasshoppers and Their Allies (over 2 million words), recording all known grasshopper taxa from 1758 to 1990 – 2,261 genera and 10,136 species. It remains the most comprehensive and systematic monograph of its kind in the world. This authoritative work, recognized as a “masterpiece” by global peers, was also a “self-funded book” that nearly bankrupted Yin Xiangchu. He began writing it in 1987 and completed it in 1993. “It took five years to write, but it represents a lifetime of collection, research, and dedication,” said Yin Xiangchu. However, due to funding shortages, this obscure academic work (in the eyes of non-professionals) could not be published for over a year. “This is the most important thing I have ever done, and it should make significant academic contributions – I couldn’t let it die in the womb.” In the end, Yin Xiangchu decided to publish it at his own expense. For this reason, the retired academician used all his savings and borrowed part of the money from his then-unmarried son, raising a total of 50,000 yuan for publication expenses.

In 1996, Yin Xiangchu was appointed a lifelong professor at Hebei University, becoming the first academician introduced to Hebei Province, thus beginning an indissoluble bond with the university.

Committed to Hebei University, Striving for Further Excellence

Since joining Hebei University in 1996, Academician Yin Xiangchu has actively promoted the university’s disciplinary development and contributed to Hebei’s science, technology, and education. At that time, the Department of Biology only offered undergraduate programs; in 1996, it obtained the right to confer master’s degrees, and in 1999, with approval, the College of Life Sciences was established. Recommended by Yin Xiangchu and two other academicians, as well as Hebei Province, Professor Song Daxiang was elected a Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences – the first CAS Member elected from Hebei Province. In 2000, with approval from the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, the university obtained the right to confer doctoral degrees in Zoology. In 2001, Yin Xiangchu and three other academicians, together with Hebei Province, recommended Professor Sun Daye from Hebei Normal University as a candidate for academician, who was subsequently elected to the CAS. In 2003, a postdoctoral research station was established with national approval. In 2000, Yin Xiangchu, together with other CAS and CAE (Chinese Academy of Engineering) academicians stationed in Hebei, co-founded the Hebei Academician Association. Academicians Shi Changxu and Zhang Zonghu were elected honorary presidents, and Yin Xiangchu served as president (honorary president since 2004). The association holds a general meeting every two years, attracting around 90 academicians to provide suggestions for Hebei’s science, technology, and education, winning recognition and praise from successive Hebei provincial leaders.

In terms of scientific research, Yin Xiangchu led a research team to focus on the systematics of Eurasian grasshoppers and the diversity of Taiwanese grasshoppers, applying his original theory of adaptive evolution of plateau grasshoppers to the exploration of Eurasian grasshopper systematics. In 2003, he published “Taxonomic System of the Pamphagidae of Eurasia,” establishing four new subfamilies whose classification framework has been adopted by international peers. Among the 8 known Pamphagidae subfamilies worldwide, Yin Xiangchu and his graduate students established 3 new ones, and another new subfamily coincides with the name designated by Kirby (1916). This remarkable achievement fully confirms that China’s grasshopper systematics research is at the world’s leading level.

Orthoptera is a medium-sized group within the class Insecta, including crickets, katydids, grasshoppers, etc., with over 26,000 known species worldwide. Crickets are ancient and mysterious insects, famous for their unique appearance, fighting behavior, and singing habits, often regarded as representatives of musical sounds. Katydids are diverse, mainly inhabiting grasslands or forests, with a few living in tree holes or caves; adults are herbivorous, carnivorous, or omnivorous, and are good at jumping. Many herbivorous species cause harm to agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry. Carnivorous species damage sericulture in tussah silkworm areas but act as natural enemies of pests in other regions. Grasshoppers are typical herbivorous insects, and certain species cause severe damage to agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry in different regions and eras. Throughout human history, locust plagues, along with floods and droughts, have been ranked as the three major natural disasters. Identifying Orthoptera species and understanding their biodiversity not only has important scientific significance but also practical value. Orthoptera insects are widely distributed globally, but how many species are there really? This is a scientific question that Yin Xiangchu has pursued for decades.

Since the publication of Catalogue of the World’s Grasshoppers and Their Allies in 1996, more than 20 years have passed. Yin Xiangchu has remained true to his original aspiration and, even in his late 80s and early 90s, continues to immerse himself in scientific research.

In 2024, he published A Synonymic Catalogue of Crickets in the World with Science Press, recording 6 families, 715 genera, and 5,669 known cricket species worldwide, including 4 new species names. With 1,066 pages, it is currently the most comprehensive and systematic catalogue of cricket superfamilies globally, with significant academic reference value.

In 2025, he published A Synonymic Catalogue of Longicorned Grasshoppers in the World with Hebei Science and Technology Press, documenting 6 families, 1,525 genera, 8,432 species, and subspecies of katydid superfamilies worldwide, including 2 new species names. Spanning 2,028 pages, it is the most comprehensive and systematic catalogue of katydid superfamilies in the world, with important academic significance.

Currently, Yin Xiangchu is supplementing the collection and sorting of Caelifera (grasshopper) specimens, identifying them based on type specimens and literature – especially new genera and species of Caelifera published after 1990 – to complete A Synonymic Catalogue of Caelifera (Insecta, Orthoptera) in the World. This work records 2,523 genera, 13,424 species, and subspecies of known Caelifera worldwide, divided into two volumes: Volume 1 covers 10 superfamilies of Caelifera (excluding Acrididae within Acridoidea) with 1,114 genera, 5,621 species, and subspecies (including 7 new species names); Volume 2 focuses on Acridoidea and Acrididae, containing 1,409 genera, 7,803 species, and subspecies. Volume 1 has been compiled and typeset, ready for submission to the publisher, while Volume 2 is in the final typesetting stage.

Together, this series of monographs systematically records 4,763 genera and 27,525 known Orthoptera species worldwide, with each species including its type locality, type specimen preservation location, original literature, and cited references. Condensing Yin Xiangchu’s lifelong efforts, these monographs are the most comprehensive and systematic Orthoptera species catalogues globally, holding great academic value. They also mark China’s leading position in related research, demonstrating his lifelong pursuit of excellence and scientific spirit, setting a brilliant example for young scholars.

“After the entire series of monographs is published,” Yin said with confident, “we plan to apply for the Science and Technology Progress Award to support the university’s ‘Double First-Class’ initiative!”

Passing on the Torch, Devoted to Education

Beyond reserch, Yin Xiangchu has actively engaged in teaching. He has successively undertaken classroom teaching for master’s and doctoral students; every year, he participates in the “Academician Lecture Hall,” guiding young students’ growth based on his own life experiences.

In cultivating students, his hands-on guidance not only ensured accurate data but also imparted a deeper truth: that science is built on rigor and integrity. Throughout the year, he arrives at his office early in the morning, with his desk piled high with specimen records and literature to review. Whenever students bring new grasshopper specimens, the sight of his wrinkled hands carefully comparing them with a magnifying glass has become the most touching scene in the laboratory. His selfless support and guidance to the younger generation, like the new species he named, shine brightly in the academic firmament, illuminating the path for future explorers. Guided by this light, batches of young students have matured from inexperienced learners to backbone forces in insect taxonomy. That image—the elder scholar scrutinizing tiny details—has inspired generations of young researchers. His exacting standards, his attention to every citation and even every punctuation mark, have become a lasting ethos in the lab. Beside the stereoscopes in the laboratory, young graduate students carefully recheck and verify specimen characteristics; during field investigations, they persist in standardized sampling procedures regardless of wind and rain – all are vivid continuations of Yin Xiangchu’s scientific spirit. Whenever encountering problematic taxa, students habitually gather around the type specimen cabinet organized by Professor Yin, and through those yellowed original labels, they seem to feel the warmth of campfires on cold plateau nights half a century ago. This rigor and enthusiasm passed from fingertips to hearts, just like the grasshopper characteristic diagrams he personally drew back then – precise lines full of vitality, paving the way for successors to explore the mysteries of species.

Having endured long-term fieldwork on the plateau, Academician Yin deeply understands the hardships of fieldwork, so he pays extra attention to his students’ fieldwork. At present, the 92 year old academician , Yin Xiangchu generously allocate part of his royalty income from publishing monographs to specifically improve the food subsidies for students’ investigation, specificaly reminding the team teachers: “Fieldwork is not easy – let the students eat better!”