Chinese Tallow (Triadica Sebifera) ナンキンハゼ（南京櫨）

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This is one of my favorite plants, Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera). Its thin and long flowers are beautiful (3rd photo) and its fruits also attract passersby with the deep green fruits against the leaves of the same color. The fruits will crack like popcorns in autumn showing white seeds and what comes after that is magnificently colorful and beautiful autumn leaves.  

Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera)　ナンキンハゼ（南京櫨）

Sea Roach (Ligia Exotica) フナムシ（船虫）

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It was around 5 a.m. I was walking as usual along the river in my neighborhood and saw something small and black cross in front of me at GREAT speed. I automatically followed it but suddenly the small thing stopped. It stayed there for ten seconds or so and suddenly started to run again at greater speed. Its move was so cute but its appearance is not so. I didn't know at that time but it was some kind of sea roach (Ligia exotica) according to the research I did at home. Oh, that was a roach... That explains its agility. 

Sea Roach (Ligia exotica)　フナムシ（船虫）

REAL Chinese Trumpet Vine (Campsis Grandiflora) ホントのノウゼンカズラ（凌霄花）

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I knew unconsciously something was different, but I just disregarded it. Then today, I had the same feeling again, so took pictures of the flowers and did research. These are authentic Chinese trumpet vines (Campsis grandiflora), not trumpet vines native to North America (Campsis radicans), which, I thought to be, the Chinese ones.

Chinese and American trumpet vine flowers resemble each other very much, i.e., both are orange, shaped like trumpets, but are still distinctly different in the length of the flower tube. American trumpet vines have longer and thinner flower tubes than the Chinese counterparts. 

If you feel something is wrong, you should trust your senses. Otherwise, it would take more than a year to appreciate differences like me to realize the difference between American and Chinese trumpet vines😅 

Authentic Chinese trumpet vine (Campsis grandiflora)　ホントのノウゼンカズラ（凌霄花）

Male Blue Skimmer (Orthetrum Albistylum) シオカラトンボ（塩辛蜻蛉）の雄

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It was my second time seeing a male blue skimmer (Orthetrum albistylum speciosum). I can say for sure it's male because it's blue! The female one is yellow. I have a question. This dragonfly and another one (i.e., the male ones) held its wings forward when perched like in these photos whereas the female one holding the wings straight out. Is this a common way of holding wings of blue skimmers? 

Blue skimmer (Orthetrum albistylum)　シオカラトンボ（塩辛蜻蛉）

A Pumpkin Beetle is Climbing! クロウリハムシ（黒瓜葉虫）登ってます！

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I've seen pumpkin beetles (Aulacophora nigripennis) on leaves of Chinese cucumber (Trichosanthes kirilowii), but had never seen them flying or climbing! In the beginning, the beetle was wrapped in a flower like in the 2nd photo, but while I was photographing it, the beetle moved out of the flower and flew! Then the beetle landed on a stem starting to climb up and stopped like in the 1st photo. It was so quick. Don't underestimate the agility of pumpkin beetles!   

A pumpkin beetle　黒瓜葉虫

A pumpkin beetle in a Chinese cucumber flower　黄烏瓜の花の中の黒瓜葉虫

A Small Pile of Roly Polies 団子状態のダンゴムシ

Japanese follows English. 英語の後に日本語が続きます。

What the hell are they doing there? I approached them and observed for a while, just finding nothing. The pile tilted right, left, forward, and backward, but that was that. The temperature was nearly 30°C, so the inside of the small pile of pill bugs must be... say 50°C? I don't necessarily like roly polies but couldn't help but stare at them....    

Busy Ants on Common Lantana アリとランタナ

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The flowers have lost all petals but are still popular among ants. They're common lantana (Lantana camara). Not only lantana but also almost all the flowers in my neighborhood have died because of the recent heat wave. The ants seemed very busy collecting pollen from decreasing food sources. 

Ants on common lantana　アリとランタナ

Trumpet Vine (Campsis Radicans) アメリカノウゼンカズラ

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There are many summer flowers and Chinese trumpet vines (Campsis grandiflora) are definitely one of them. The Japanese name is Nouzen kazura, meaning "vine blooming towards the sky." The bright orange flowers were literally blooming towards the sky!! 

Chinese trumpet vine (Campsis grandiflora)　ノウゼンカズラ（凌霄花）

Morning glory アサガオ（朝顔）

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The contrast between the pale blue flower and the deep green leaf is so refreshing!

Morning glory　アサガオ

Green Rose Hips バラの実

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Roses are gorgeously beautiful in every way, so it was surprising to find their fruits in such a funny shape. I thought (embarrassingly) that rose hips were the name of some herb and never thought that they were FRUITS of roses. I love rose hip tea and sometimes top yogurt with rose hips after brewing them.  

Green rose hips　バラの実

Seeds of East Asian Mallotus (Mallotus Japonicus) アカメガシワ（赤芽柏）の種

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On 1 July, I found these clusters of fruits and yesterday I found them cracked showing black seeds. The tree is East Asian mallotus (Mallotus japonicus). The tree is dioecious, so the tree is female, I guess. 

 

East Asian mallotus (Mallotus japonicus)　アカメガシワ（赤芽柏木）

Cicada Shell セミの抜け殻

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The season for cicadas to shed their outer shells has started! The season usually lasts from early July to late September in Japan and surprisingly, the shells are used as an ingredient to make a Chinese herbal medicine (a cicada shell is not a herb though)! The medicine is pretty popular and effective to treat skin rash. I'm a big fan of Chinese herbal medicines but have never tried the ones which contain cicada shells. 

Cicada shell　セミの抜け殻

Marvel of Peru (Mirabilis Jalapa) オシロイバナ（白粉花）

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These are marvel of Peru flowers (Mirabilis jalapa). Its Japanese name is "Oshiroi bana," meaning "white makeup powder flower" after that the endosperm in the black seeds looks like white makeup powder.

Marvel of Peru (Mirabilis jalapa)　オシロイバナ（白粉花）

Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia Indica) 百日紅（サルスベリ）

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This year, almost all the crepe myrtle trees (Lagerstroemia indica) in my neighborhood have flowers too high for me to photograph, but finally I've found several trees with pink and white flowers as high as I can reach. Crepe myrtle flowers always make me feel cool.  

Crepe myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica)　サルスベリ（百日紅）

White Cape Leadwort (Plumbago Auriculata F. Alba) ルリマツリ（瑠璃茉莉）

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These are white cape leadwort flowers (Plumbago auriculata f. alba). I've seen pale blue plumbago, but it was my first time to see the white ones. 

White cape leadwort (Plumbago auriculata f. alba)　ルリマツリ（瑠璃茉莉）

Princess Flowers (Pleroma Urvilleanum) シコンノボタン（紫紺野牡丹）

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These are princess flowers (Pleroma urvilleanum or Tibouchina urvilleana). The purple color of not only the petals but also the hairy stamens are beautiful.  

Princess flowers (Pleroma urvilleanum)　シコンノボタン（紫紺野牡丹）

I'm Philosophyzing 哲学してます

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This is the second or third time this month to see bugs resting on leaves, but this fly on a leaf of Carolina horsenettle was so still that I named it "a philosophizing fry😆."  

A philosophizing fly?　哲学するハエ？

Blueberry ブルーベリー

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I've seen blueberry flowers several times but it's my first time to see the berries! They aren't ripe yet but when they are, I want to try one or two (if possible)😁!! 

Blueberry　ブルーベリー

Female Blue Skimmer (Orthetrum Albistylum) シオカラトンボ（塩辛蜻蛉）の雌

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I did it again. I take a karate class every Saturday. So, I went to the dojo (i.e., a place for karate learning) this morning as usual to participate in the class starting at 7:00 in the morning and found it closed. I saw the website, finding a notice saying the dojo was closed because of special summer lessons this weekend! Why didn't they put the notice on the dojo calendar?  

A bit angry and blaming myself for failing to check the website more thoroughly, I was walking back home and then found this dragonfly resting on a leaf of East Asian mallotus, a female blue skimmer (Orthetrum albistylum). I'd seen a male one but not a female. Maybe I should thank the lazy😆 dojo website for this encounter!  

Female blue skimmer (Orthetrum Albistylum)　シオカラトンボ（塩辛蜻蛉）の雌

Pale Blue Golden Dewdrop (Duranta Erecta) 水色のデュランタ

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I've seen and written about deep purple golden dewdrops (Duranta erecta; fourth photo) but have never seen pale purple ones. The leaf shape and sprawling shrubs are the same but the flower color difference makes them different plants. I rather prefer pale ones. How about you?

White Morning Glory (Ipomoea Lacunosa) マメアサガオ（豆朝顔）

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Summer has not started yet (i.e., the rainy season isn't over) but it's already been really hot and humid across Japan. So, I almost gave up on finding a plant for this blogpost and then I saw them, white morning-glories (Ipomoea lacunosa). They're a type of morning glories but very small, like 2cm in diameter, but beautiful enough to cheer me (who was exhausted from walking) up. 

White morning glory (Ipomoea lacunosa)　マメアサガオ（豆朝顔）

Longheaded Locust (Atractomorpha Lata) オンブバッタ（負飛蝗）

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Yesterday it was about a fly on a yellow cosmos and today it's about a longheaded locust (Atractomorpha lata). As almost all flowers are gone but yellow cosmoses in my neighborhood because of the recent heatwave, the cosmoses may be the only place for bugs to rest now. The locust's Japanese name is "Ombu batta," meaning piggybacking grasshoppers because their females are often seen piggybacking the males (not vice versa!). I want to see such a couple someday!    

Longheaded locust (Atractomorpha lata)　オンブバッタ（負飛蝗）