Natural-Japan.net

Lots of these yellow-spotted stink bugs (kimadara-kamemushi) on the trees in the park next to my children’s school. Although it is not native to Japan, it is very common in Fukuoka. It is listed on Australia’s Pests and Diseases Image Library (PaDIL and according to the PaDIL factsheet (here), this species, “is a major pest of pine trees and hardwood trees in Taiwan… [and] also a pest of pears in China.”

Hemiptera: Pentatomidae
Erthesina fullo (Thunberg)

Yellow-spotted stink bug = kimadara-kamemushi

Location: Park near Katounishi Elementary School (map)

This dictyopharid planthopper (nakano-tengu-sukeba) was in our living room yesterday evening. The Japanese name includes “tengu” after the long-nosed mountain goblins (see here).

HEMIPTERA: Homoptera (Auchenorrhyncha): Dictyopharidae
Dictyophara nakanonis = nakano-tengu-sukeba

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Found this interesting on-line entomology class: http://eny3005.ifas.ufl.edu/lab1/Homoptera/Dictyopharid.htm

It was great to find this stick insect (nanafushi) today. I remember keeping them as pets when I was a kid in the UK – we had to buy them from an insect supplier – and now I live somewhere that has them in the wild! In fact, there are 18 species of stick insect in Japan, so I’m hoping to find some more in the future.

Phasmatodea = Phasmida
Sipyloidea sipylus
Pink-winged stick insect = taiwan-tobi-nanafushi

Location: path near Hyoutan Pond (map)

Quite a small bush-cricket (kirigirisu) with green sides and a brown top.

Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae (katydids/bush-crickets)
Conocephalus melas = sasakiri

Location: Path near Hyoutan Pond (map)

There are several species of hornet in Japan. This one is Vespa tropica pulchra (hime-suzume-bachi ) and it is said to be the least aggressive and least toxic of the hornets. It is easy to identify because, unlike other hornets, the last segment of the abdomen is black.

Japanese article here.
English article here.

Youtube video (in Japanese) about hunting hornets with a giant vacuum: here.

Hymenoptera: Vespidae
Vespa tropica pulchra
(synonym = Vespa ducalis)

hime-suzume-bachi

Location: path near Hyoutan Pond (map)

Insecta: Mantodea: Mantidae
Tenodera angustipennis

Japanese Mantis = chousen-kamakiri

Location: path near Hyoutan Pond (map)

These stink bugs live up to their name. If you accidently squash one… well, they stink! They sometimes come into the house which is a bit of a nuisance. This species is also a pest of fruit trees (such as peach and plum).
According to the University of Florida Department of Entomology and Nematology (link here), the brown marmorated stink bug (kusagi-kamemushi) “is a recently introduced pest to the western hemisphere and … may become a major agricultural pest in North America.”

Hemiptera: Pentatomidae
Halyomorpha halys
or Halyomorpha picus?

brown marmorated stink bug = kusagi-kamemushi

Location: path near Hyoutan Pond (map)

Hymenoptera: Eumenidae
Eumenes micado

Mikado Potter Wasp = mikado-tokkuri-bachi

Location: path near Hyoutan Pond (map)

This species of locust (tsuchi-inago) is very common. The adults are quite large (up to 6cm) but not as big as the migratory locust (tonosama-bata).

Orthoptera: Catantopidae
Patanga japonica

Locust = tsuchi-inago

Location: path near Hyoutan Pond (map)

This is the same species of migratory locust (em>tonosama-bata) that is famous (infamous) as a pest in Africa. We get plenty of them here in Japan, but they don’t swarm like they do in Africa (at least not to my knowledge).

Wikipedia article on the migratory locust = here.

Orthoptera:
Locusta migratoria
migratory locust = tonosama-bata

Location: Path by river in Munakata (map)