“Hagi flowers”
As I was walking down the road, hagi flowers were blooming near the bamboo grove. The hagi family includes trees and grass. Ki-hagi is a shrub. White and purple butterfly-shaped flowers refreshed the roadside under the summer sky. [JULY 2021]
Lespedeza buergeri
夏になると、萩の花が目立ち始めます。キハギは、木本のハギ。夏に咲く、白と紫色の蝶形花は、さわやかです。
”Adult antlion”
In the woods after the rainy season. A lacewings fluttered among the trees with its wings shining. The larva is known as the antlion. It creates a mortar-shaped nest on the sand and waits for the small insects to fall in it. It grows by feeding those insects. Around the end of the rainy season, the antlion who has accumulated enough power, transforms into the lacewing with beautiful transparent wings. [JULY 2021]
Hagenomyia micans
ウスバカゲロウは、その幼虫がアリなどの昆虫を捕食するアリジゴクとして知られています。梅雨の終わり頃、アリジゴクは真夜中にウスバカゲロウへ変わります。林内をきらきらと翅を煌めかせてはばたく姿はきれいです。
“Bluebottle butterfly”
From spring to summer, you will meet the bluebottle in various place. In the city, in the field and on the beach. The bluebottle appears in places with camphor trees in order to lay eggs. They suck the nectar of various flowers. You can see them to extend their proboscises into the water on the ground and the beach. [JULY 2021]
Graphium sarpedon
春から夏にかけて、野でも街でもよく出会う、アオスジアゲハ。クスノキに卵を産み付け、都市部でも街路樹から孵った個体をよく見かけます。波風に逆らいながら、海岸の地面で口吻を伸ばしている姿も見かけます。
“Petite sunflower”
When I visited the beach, it was all summer. Sea bells and wild radish have already finished the flowering season. The roundleaf chestetree colored the beach with blush-purple flowers. Sunflowers were in full bloom along the embankment. Flowers smaller than the well-known sunflower bloomed toward the sun, swaying in the sea breeze. [JULY 2021]
Helianthus cucumerifolius
よく知られるヒマワリよりも小さな花を咲かせる、ヒメヒマワリ。海岸の一角で一面に黄色い花を太陽に向けて開いていました。街中でもさまざまな場所で見かける植物です。
“Large dragonfly in the woods”
When I was walking in the woods, a dragonfly appeared from the bush. It is rare to meet a dragonfly in a dark place where tree grow. The dragonfly perched on a branch as if hanging. It was Katori-yamma. They are active in the evening and stay still in the woods during the day. Several other Katori-yamma were quietly moving around. [JULY 2021]
Gynacantha japonica
カトリヤンマは夕方になると頻繁に活動するトンボで、日中は林内で静かにしています。林内では枝から枝へ移動し、ぶら下がるようにしてとまります。
“Stag beetle”
In summer, insects gather on trees that produce sap. Looking into the oak cave, a stag beetle was hiding. When I brought the twig closer to its face, it pinched it its big chin. Maybe because the sun was still bright, it didn’t move much other than that. [JULY 2021]
Dorcus rectus
夏の雑木林。クヌギの洞にコクワガタが隠れていました。この時期、樹液を出す木には甲虫やチョウなど多くの生きものが集まります。
“Small bouncing life”
There are many holes on the beach. Many lives are active inside. When I dug up a small hole, something like a flea popped out from inside. Little sea slater. The body was still transparent. It was jumping around, swimming in the water and hiding in the shade of rocks. [JULY 2021]
Ligia exotica
堤防や岩場などでよく見かける、フナムシ。砂浜にあいた小さな穴を掘ると中からとてもちいさなフナムシが跳び出しました。身体はまだ透明です。
“Kudzu flower”
Kudzu is a flower that has been counted as one of the seven autumn herbs since ancient times. Purple flowers bloom among the overgrown vines and leaves. In the autumn, you can hear a lot of crickets’ songs from the place covered by the Kudzu. [JULY 2021]
Pueraria montana var. lobata
秋の七草にも数えられる、クズ。様々な場所で木や草をおおうように繁茂している様子を目にします。秋になるとその周辺では、虫の音がよく聞こえます。
“Crab on the rocky shore”
On the summer coast. The tide is low and rocky areas are appearing. A crab with a body that looks like a rock passes quickly. This kind of crab has a variety of shell pattern. As soon as the crab notices my existence, it hides behind the rock. [JULY 2021]
Gaetice depressus
からだの模様がさまざまある、ヒライソガニ。磯に住むちいさなカニです。干潮時に潮だまりをのぞくと出会います。こちらに気づくと、すぐに岩陰に隠れてしまいます。
“Emergence of cicadas”
The last heavy rain of the summer season is over. The arrival of summer. Cicadas begin to sing in the city and in the woods. A small cicada was drying its wings at the tip of a dead branch. They emerge in lower place than other cicadas. So even children can catch them. [JULY 2021]
Platypleura kaempferi
ニイニイゼミは、小さなセミ。脱け殻も小さく、泥にまみれているものが多いです。木の下の方など低い場所で羽化し、成虫になってもわりと低い位置にいることが多いセミです。