Monthly Archives: June 2005

Sea Life

Posted on June 26, 2005 by Nigel

Spent another three hours in the sea today – mainly alone but the kids joined me for the final hour. I’m finding it very difficult to get the high quality photos I’d like to take. I guess one of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Marine | 1 Comment

Evening on the Beach

Posted on June 25, 2005 by Nigel

I took the kids along to the beach this evening. Nice sunset! We found lots of hermit crabs (yadokari), as usual, and also found the weirdest little crab. It was a species of spider crab (kumogani) that disguises itself by … Continue reading →

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New Camera

Posted on June 25, 2005 by Nigel

I bought a new digital camera (Sony Cybershot DSC-P100) and its underwater housing (MPK-PHB). Only cost 48,000 yen in total. The pictures below are from my first day using it (= today). I was in the sea for three hours … Continue reading →

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Spiders in the garden

Posted on June 22, 2005 by Nigel

I’ve been surprised at just how many different kinds of spiders live in our garden. Here are pictures of a few of them. The first four photos show an interesting little drama. These ant hunting spiders are tiny (not much … Continue reading →

Posted in Arachnids | 2 Comments

Scarab Beetles

Posted on June 20, 2005 by Nigel

There were three species of scarab beetles (koganemushi) in the park today. Order: Coleoptera; Family: Scarabaeidae Subfamily: Cetoniinae kanabun = Rhomborrhina japonica Order: Coleoptera; Family: Scarabaeidae Subfamily: Rutelinae (Shining Leaf Chafers) mamekogane = Popillia japonica semadarakogane = Blitopertha orientalis The … Continue reading →

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Various Longhorn Beetles

Posted on June 18, 2005 by Nigel

Today was longhorn beetle day! We found three different species of longhorn beetles (kamikiri) near the house. The first two (beni-kamikiri and gomadara-kamikiri) were on a small oak tree in the park. The other one (ramii-kamikiri) was on a bush … Continue reading →

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Lizard catches fly

Posted on June 18, 2005 by Nigel

I watched this lizard stalking a big robber fly (abu) from at least two meters away. The robber fly was probably also hunting for prey (they even attack bees), but ended up a victim. The fly seemed to be too … Continue reading →

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Paper Wasp Nests

Posted on June 18, 2005 by Nigel

I found two paper wasps’ nests within 50m of each other in an area of undeveloped land near our house (we call this area “wild hill”). Actually, I was there looking for snakes (which I didn’t find this time). I … Continue reading →

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Woodlice

Posted on June 18, 2005 by Nigel

Found these two woodlice in the first stage of mating. According to the earthlife factsheet for raising woodlice, the mating process is as follows: “The male climbs onto a receptive female, licks her head and drums on her back with … Continue reading →

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Sand Digger Wasps

Posted on June 18, 2005 by Nigel

There are lots of sand digger wasps in this area. They dig burrows in the sand and store caterpillars (and other insects) as food for their grubs. They are extremely strong and I’ve seen them carrying huge caterpillars. Insecta: Hymenoptera: … Continue reading →

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