Yellow Spotted Stink Bug キマダラカメムシ（黄斑亀虫）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Eggs of yellow spotted stink bugs (Erthesina fullo) hatch into nymphs as below. 

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Below is a record of 2025/6/12 I found their eggs for the first time.

On 12 June 2025 (scroll down), I found a circle the size of a quarter dollar coin on a leaf of Chinese tallow (3rd photo). Then, five days later (i.e., on 17 June), they'd become like in the 2nd photo and for the last day since then, they have changed like in the 1st photo! Every bug is small but you can clearly see each is a yellow spotted stink bug. They've changed not only their appearance but also have started to move. The one in the upper right of the 1st photo was running toward the backside of the leaf. They may not be there tomorrow, which makes me feel a bit sad and relieved a lot.   

P.S.
On 19 June 2025, I went there again to check up on them, finding them like in the 1st photo. All larvae are all gone but two on the eggs in the 1st photo and one each in the 2nd and 3rd photos.

2026/7/15

Fig (Ficus Carica) イチジク（無花果）

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Fig (Ficus carica) is native to west Asia, came to Japan either in the 1590s through Father Diogo de Mesquita, a Portuguese Jesuit who came to Japan in the 16th century as a missionary, or in around 1630 through China. Its flowers are hidden, growing inside the pear-shaped structure. This is the origin of its Japanese name "無花果," which translates into "no flower fruit." A fig fruit, however, is actually not a fruit but inverted flowers😮.

2026/7/10

Plumbago Auriculata (Blue Plumbago) 瑠璃茉莉（ルリマツリ）

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Blue plumbago (Plumbago auriculata) is native to South Africa, was introduced to Japan during the Meiji era (1868-1912) for ornamental purposes, and can now be found across the country, producing blue and white flowers from May to November. 

2026/7/14

Japanese Camellia (Camellia Japonica) ツバキ（椿）

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A fruit of Japanese camellia. Japanese camellia blooms resemble sasanqua camellia blooms very much but their fruits do not. In autumn, this should look like chocolates.

2026/7/15

2023/11/6

Potato Vine (Solanum Laxum) ツルハナナス（蔓花茄子）

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The potato vine (Solanum laxum) is native to South America, came to Japan during the Taisho era (1912-1926) for ornamental purposes, and can now be found across Japan. Its Japanese name is "tsuru hana nasu," which translates into "vine flower eggplant," after the resemblance of its flowers to those of eggplants. Eggplant or potato? It's so confusing. 

2026/7/14

Loquat (Eriobotrya Japonica) 枇杷（ビワ）

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The loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is native to China, came to Japan from the 6th to 8th century and is now grown in warm regions, such as Nagasaki and Chiba prefectures. The plant produces flowers from November to February and fruits from May to June. The fruits are orange and shaped like a Chinese lute or pipa (枇杷), which is why the plant is called "pipa" in Chinese while "biwa" in Japanese, both are written in the same Chinese characters but pronounced differently. Although the flowers are plain, the fruits are so orange, and sweet and juicy that the trees in my neighborhood produce many fruits every year but I've never had a chance to taste them.  

By the way, loquats always bring back fond memories of my childhood.

When I was a second-grader, I lived in a town in southern Japan where there were many wild Amanatsu orange and loquat trees. One day my baby brother and I decided to go on a loquat picnic - just the two of us. I got up early and prepared lunch boxes, and after breakfast, we left home for a place with many loquat trees a few kilometers away. As soon as we got there, we started picking these orange fruits, and after that, had lunch there while talking about the harvest that day, i.e., about 20 fresh big loquats, and brought them home.

Looking back, however, something is bugging me. Were these loquat trees wild? Might they be planted trees in a loquat farm? I remember a couple of people there staring at us, not saying anything.

Now I'm pretty sure that that was a loquat farm and they were loquat farmers who were kind and generous enough to let local kids pick the loquats they'd grown without saying anything. I no longer remember exactly where that was, but these orange round fruits always remind me of this small adventure.

2026/7/10

Scarab Beetle 黄金虫（コガネムシ）

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Scarab beetles are quite prevalent and familiar to people in Japan. Actually, there's a song titled "Scarab beetles are rich." The lyrics are based on the lyricist (Ujo Noguchi)'s childhood memories that cockroaches gather in rich people's houses as they're warm and have food and that at that time, cockroaches were called "kogane mushi," which translates into "scarab beetles" in English😆!

Scarab beetles can be highly destructive to lawn and gardens. The adults feed on foliage and flowers, while their underground larvae damage the root systems of turf grass, ornamental plants, and crops. Scarab beetles, however, are so beautiful and their sleeping posture is funnily acrobatic (scroll down). 

2026/7/12

Sphaerophoria ミナミヒメヒラタアブ（南姫扁虻）

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Philadelphia fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus) is native to North America, came to Japan in around 1920, and can now be found across the country. Actually, the plant is so prevalent as a weed that they're called "binbo gusa" and "binbo giku" in Japanese, which translates into "poor plant" and "poor chrysanthemum" respectively in some areas in Japan. On a Philadelphia fleabane is a tiny hoverfly. It's so tiny but very beautiful. 

2026/7/12

Monk's Cress (Tropaeolum Majus) ナスタチウム/キンレンカ（金蓮花）

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I've been growing herbs recently but this is mainly to use them for cooking but I realize I can enjoy them aesthetically, so I put monk's cress and oregano flowers, and mint in a glass. 

2026/7/12

Small Branded Swift (Pelopidas Mathias) チャバネセセリ（茶羽挵）

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The small branded swift can be seen in east Asia and Oceania. The butterfly resembles the common straight swift very much but the small branded swift has white spots in a circle while the common straight swift (Parnara guttata) has such spots in a straight line. 

2026/7/12

Small Copper (Lycaena Phlaeas) ベニシジミ（紅小灰蝶）

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The small copper (Lycaena phlaeas) flies from March to November in Japan, so it's not unusual to see them but it was my first time to see them, not one but two! Their orange forewings caught my eye. The butterfly's coloration changes slightly across seasons; spring broods are typically brighter while summer ones become darker and more muted. I can't say for sure but one of them seems like a spring brood and the other a summer one. Scroll down to see the two together in a photo.  

2026/7/12

2026/7/12