These are pretty big ants (around 10mm long). The hole was in sandy soil and opened directly (i.e. without a mound). The nuptial flight was just about to start when I came across the hole, and it was interesting to watch how the workers seemed to be in charge of pushing/pulling out the winged ants (reproductive castes) then shoving them back into the hole again when danger threatened (i.e. the camera flashed).
Insecta: Hymenoptera: Formicidae
Carpenter ant = Camponotus japonicus = Kuro-oo-ari
Forest cockroach nymphs. These are very common in the leaf litter.
Insecta: Dictyoptera: Blattodea
Blattella nipponica = mori chabane gokiburi
Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae
Paridea angulicollis
Leaf beetle = atoboshi-hamushi
Location: Fields near Genkai New Town (Google map)
Passeriformes: Emberizidae (buntings)
Emberiza cioides = Siberian Meadow Bunting (hoojiro)
Adult digger wasps (jigabachi) feed on pollen. They also hunt caterpillars, but they use these as food for their young. The adult female digs a burrow in the sand, catches a caterpillar, which she paralyzes using a special poison, and then she drags it into the burrow and lays a single egg on it. When the egg hatches, the larval wasp feeds on the caterpillar and emerges from its burrow the next year.
Insecta: Hymenoptera: Sphecidae
Sand Digger Wasp (jigabachi) = Ammophila sabulosa (22-28mm)
Found two species of black swallowtail butterflies within a few meters of each other (on the edge of a neighbors garden).
“Crow” swallowtail = karasu ageha = Papilio bianor dehaanii
Black swallowtail = kuro ageha = Papilio protenor demetrius
I was surprised at the number of lizards in the garden this year, and then the kids gave me the explanation. The kids next door had collected about 20 from their garden and other places, but their mother didn’t want them in her garden (for some strange reason), so they released the whole lot into our garden! I’m quite happy with all the extra lizards of course!
Reptilia: Squamata (scaled reptiles): Lacertilia (lizards): Lacertidae (wall lizards)
Japanese Grass Lizard: Takydromus tachydromoides (nihon kanahebi)
This common Japanese gecko (nihon yamori) jumped into the living room when I opened the window. We lost it for a few days but it eventually showed up in the bedroom, so I let it go in the garden.
Japanese gecko (nihon yamori)
Gekko japonicus