Bumblebee マルハナバチ（丸花蜂）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I often mistake horseflies for bees, but I believe this is a bee, maybe a bumblebee!!?? If so, it's my first time to see a bumblebee. The bee is so chubby and so adorable! 

I don't eat sugary things much but when I really want to have sweet stuff, I make French toast myself and put a LOT of honey on it. 

The bumblebee is called "maruhana bachi," meaning "round (or chubby) flower bee." This makes sense, doesn't it?  

Camellia Sasanqua (Sasanqua Camellia) サザンカ（山茶花）

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Is it too early or late, I don't know, but this sasanqua tree has been in full bloom for the last week. It's autumn according to the calendar but sometimes still hot these days in Tokyo and the sasanqua tree has many double-flowered blooms. Is this because of global warming or this sasanqua being an anomaly? 

Pale Grass Blue (Pseudozizeeria Maha) 大和小灰蝶（ヤマトシジミ）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This is a pale grass blue butterfly (Pseudozizeeria maha) and you can see why it's "pale grass BLUE." The upper side of the male is beautiful pale blue!

The pale grass blue resembles the plains cupid (Luthrodes pandava) very much except for the latter having orange spots on the wings, so I once mistook a plains cupid for a pale grass blue. This time, I checked several times to make sure that this had no orange spot on its wings (3rd photo). It's a pale grass blue butterfly!  

Common Grass Yellow (Eurema Hecabe) キチョウ（黄蝶）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I'm diurnal as are butterflies, but because I take a morning walk too early, I rarely see butterflies while on a walk. But while heading to a coffee shop nearby at around 10 a.m. the day before yesterday, I saw many butterflies of at least three types flying here and there. One is the pale grass blue, another is the Asian comma (Polygonia c-aureum), and the other is this, i.e., the common grass yellow (Eurema hecabe)!!

The yellow was so bright but almost the same color as the flower on which it was resting, I decided to wait hoping the butterfly to move to another place to photograph not only this beautiful butterfly but also the contrast between this bright yellow and another color, e.g., the deep green leaves, but alas, a few minutes later, it just flied away.  

Asian Comma (Polygonia C-Aureum) キタテハ（黄立羽）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I'm diurnal and butterflies are, but because I take a morning walk too early, I rarely see butterflies while on a walk. But yesterday, I went to a coffee shop nearby at around 10 a.m. seeing many butterflies of at least three types flying here and there. One is the pale grass blue, another is the common grass yellow and this one, i.e., Asian comma (Polygonia c-aureum)!! The upper side of Asian comma's wings is such bright orange while the underside is brown like dry leaves (which I couldn't see), protecting them from predators. 

Joro Spider (Trichonephila Clavata)? ジョロウグモ（女郎蜘蛛）？

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

This is the best shot I could get. It's a female Joro spider, I think. I noticed her spider web first several months ago because it's big, about 50 cm in diameter, and was shining beautifully in sunlight (though I couldn't photograph the beauty with my compact camera) and since then, I've come to see the owner, which is about 4 cm from toe to toe. For me, this spider is a bit scary but gorgeous as well.   

Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus Umbellata) アキグミ（秋茱萸）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I was tired from work that day but the tiredness just went away when I saw these adorable berries. They're autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata). Thorny olives fruit in spring while autumn leaves fruit in autumn. Again, they're so cute so I could just eat them up (although they're tart and astringent😨)!!

Moonflower (Ipomoe Alba) ヨルガオ（夜顔）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I thought they were some morning glories but didn't know their specific type but an Instagram follower told me they were moonflowers (Ipomoea alba) and this morning, finally and for the first time, I found they were fully open like the Moon! Moonflowers have this name because they're open at night (and that's why I'd seen them closed or only half open in the morning like those in the 3rd and 4th photos). 

In Japan, morning glories are broadly classified into the following three types according to the time when they open: asagao, hirugao, and yorugao, meaning "morning face (i.e., Ipomoea)," "afternoon face (i.e., Japanese bindweed)," and "night face (i.e., moonflowers!)" respectively. Seeing moonflowers has concluded my list of Japan classified morning glories.   

Thorny Olive (Elaeagnus Pungens) ナワシログミ（苗代茱萸）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are flowers of thorny olive (Elaeagnus pungens). Other species in the Elaeagnus genus flower in spring but this one flowers in autumn, has serrated leaves, and fruits in autumn. This means I need to keep going there to see the red berries!

The thorny olive is called "nawashiro gumi" or "rice seedbed Elaeagnus" in Japanese because it fruits when people prepare rice seedbeds.

Horsefly on an Annual Fleabane (Erigeron Annuus) ヒメジョオン（姫女菀）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

A horsefly came to land on a flower of annual fleabane (Erigeron annuus) and started to eat pollen. It was so tiny but a voracious eater😆. I'm not certain but I believe this is a long hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta).

Plains Cupid (Luthrodes Pandava) クロマダラソテツシジミ（黒斑蘇鉄小灰蝶）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Butterflies were flying in many places with the beautiful grayish blue upper side of the wings while, when resting, showing only the grayish beige bottom side (2nd photo). They're plains cupids (Luthrodes pandava). Then, I found this one, showing both sides of its wings!  

202410/27