Thu 15 Jul 2010
I often see these big black and white weevils hanging onto leaves like a cross between a koala and a (very small) panda! They walk very deliberately and drop off the leaf when disturbed. I think they are among my favourites.
Coleoptera: Curculionidae (weevils)
Mesalcidodes trifidus
Weevil = ojiro-ashi-naga-zoumushi
Location: Yokoyama Village near Munakata Common (Google map link)
Thu 15 Jul 2010
I think somebody has made a bit of a mistake here! Take a closer look…
Coleoptera: Curculionidae (weevils)
Mesalcidodes trifidus
Weevil = ojiro-ashi-naga-zoumushi
Location: Yokoyama Village near Munakata Common (Google map link)
Thu 15 Jul 2010
It’s remarkable how these Japanese beetles skeletonize leaves — they’re little artists really!!
Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae (Shining Leaf Chafers)
Popillia japonica
Japanese beetle = mame-kogane
Location: Yokoyama Village near Munakata Common (Google map link)
Thu 15 Jul 2010
Such a beautiful weevil… but my photos are very poor. The evening was setting in and I was among trees and the weevil was only 3mm long… If I find one again, I will catch it and take the photo in a well-lit place to show off the metallic gold and green.
Coleoptera: Curculionidae (weevils)
Euops splendidus
Weevil = kashi-ruri-otoshibumi
Location: Yokoyama Village near Munakata Common (Google map link)
Sun 11 Jul 2010
Today was Longhorn Beetle day for me! I went out for 4 hours between downpours and walked around my local area to see what I could find. Everywhere I looked I spotted longhorns: 9 species in total. Not bad. Well, just to put that figure into perspective… there are about 800 species of longhorn beetle in Japan!
Left = Psacothea hilaris hilaris; Right = Prionus insularis
Left = Chlorophorus quinquefasciatus; Right = Chlorophorus annularis
Left = Paraglenea fortunei; Right = Allotraeus rufescens
Left = Uraecha bimaculata; Right = Mesosa longipennis
Monochamus subfasciatus
Coleoptera: Cerambycidae:
Longhorn beetles = kamikiri
Location: Munakata Common (Google map)
Tue 6 Jul 2010
Coleoptera: Curculionidae:
Merus flavosignatus
Also: Mecysolobus flavosignatus
Weevil = kisuji-ashinaga-zoumushi
Location: forest area near Ikeda Village in Munakata (aerial photo)
Map: Google map link
Tue 6 Jul 2010
These are big longhorns (around 30mm) and they were all over the place in the orchards I visited today. I found about 10 and, by the looks of things, they were finding one another pretty easily too !
Coleoptera: Cerambycidae
Anoplophora malasiaca
Longhorn Beetle = gomadara-kamikiri
Location: forest area near Ikeda Village in Munakata (aerial photo)
Map: Google map link
Tue 6 Jul 2010
This tiny jewel beetle was a little devil — running around like crazy and refusing to smile for his photo! Hence the not-quite-in-focus photos. Only about 3mm long but what a beauty.
Coleoptera: Buprestidae:
Nalanda rutilicollis
Jewel beetle = mune-aka-chibi-naka-boso-tamushi
Location: forest area near Ikeda Village in Munakata (aerial photo)
Map: Google map link
Tue 6 Jul 2010
I thought this was some kind of dragonfly nymph at first. However, it was on the underside of a big mushroom — a pretty weird place to find one. Taking a closer look, I could see it was a type of rove beetle (hanekakushi), but unlike any I’d seen before. Apparently, they feed on mushrooms and carrion.
Coleoptera: Staphylinidae
Ontholestes gracilis
Rove beetle = sabi-hanekakushi
Location: forest area near Ikeda Village in Munakata (aerial photo)
Map: Google map link
Sun 20 Jun 2010
It’s very hot and humid today and rain is forecast so I almost didn’t go out… But I couldn’t resist the urge to go and look for beetles! The best find of the day was this flower longhorn beetle, which I’d never seen before. It’s very wasp-like in appearance.
Coleoptera: Cerambycidae
Leptura ochraceofasciata
Four-banded flower longhorn beetle (my translation) = yotsu-suji-hana-kamikiri
Location: Near Genkai Golf Club in Munakata (map here)