Category Archives: Coleoptera

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, … Continue reading →

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

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 … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

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 … Continue reading →

Walking home from the train station last night, I stopped at every vending machine to see what had been attracted to the lights. This is a false blister beetle (“false longhorn” is the translation of the Japanese). Coleoptera: Oedemeridae (false … Continue reading →

I walked the 6km from the train station to my house last night — arriving home around midnight. This was by choice of course because I wanted to check for insects on all the vending machines, which act as great … Continue reading →

I spent a couple of hours rooting around in what should be called “mosquito city” — an overgrown and forgotten corner of my local community that seems to be the main source of all the mosquitoes in the area. Being … Continue reading →

I found lots of these elm leaf beetles today — probably 20 or more. I hope that doesn’t mean the local elm trees are in trouble… Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles) Pyrrhalta maculicollis Elm leaf beetle = nire-hamushi Location: Munakata Common … Continue reading →