Blue-Striped Nettle Grub (Parasa Lepida) ヒロヘリアオイラガ（広縁青毒棘蛾）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

What do you see in these photos? I thought it was a strange-shaped grasshopper but you know what? It's a moth! A blue-striped nettle grub (Parasa lepida). I found this on the backside of a leaf of a "drunken" Confederate rose tree. It is a native minor pest found in the Indo-Malayan region, including India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia according to Wikipedia and as an introduced pest, it's currently found across Japan now. The adult (this one) is colorful and cute but its larvae have spines that contain venom. 

 

2025/8/14

Pagoda Tree (Styphnolobium Japonicum) エンジュ（槐）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Cream yellow flowers scattered on the ground made me look up and find a Japanese pagoda tree (Styphnolobium japonicum). 

Japanese pagoda trees are native to China, coming to Japan at the latest in the 8th century, and now can be found across Japan in parks and schools. As you can see in the 4th photo, the Japanese pagoda tree is in the Fabaceae family.

2025/8/16

2025/8/16

"Drunken" Confederate Rose スイフヨウ（酔芙蓉）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are Confederate roses (Hibiscus mutabilis cv. versicolor) and the first five photos are of one flower, taken at 10:00, 12:30, 15:30 and 16:30, and at 5:30 on the following morning. Because of such a color change from pure white in the morning to pink in the afternoon, this type of Confederate roses is called "drunken Confederate rose" in Japan.

The sixth and the last ones are red and white marbled. Some Japanese apricot trees produce such colored flowers but (I believe that) a Confederate rose tree producing such flowers is quite unusual. White apricot trees don't exist but red ones produce white or red/white marbled flowers when they cannot produce enough anthocyanins to make flowers red. The same may apply to this hibiscus tree. 

If you want to see peach, Japanese apricot, or lespedeza having white, pink/red or marble-colored flowers on a tree, read the following posts: 

- Red & White Marble Colored Flowering Peach

- Half & Half Colored Japanese Apricot (White & Pink)!

- Lespedeza Japonica Bailey cv. Versicolor (Variegated Bush Clover)

1. 10:00, 2024/9/16

2. 12:30, 2024/9/16

3. 15:30, 2024/9/16

Okra (Abelmoschus Esculentus) オクラ

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

I've eaten its fruits numerous times but saw the flowers for the first time. These are okra flowers. Okra flowers resemble Hamabo hibiscuses very much but that's understandable. Both are in the Malvaceae family.

The okra is native to East Africa, coming to Japan at the end of the Edo period (1603 - 1867), and is now used for various dishes, such as salad, tempura, (miso) soup, stew, and saute.    

2025/8/15

Three Types of Swallowtail Butterflies アゲハ蝶3種

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

There are various types of swallowtail butterflies and these are three of them. Butterflies usually close their wings when resting but are also known to open their wings to bask in the sun to warm their bodies. The first one was like this when being photographed and at that time the temperature was 26°C. Did this butterfly need to warm its body? I don't know.     

2025/8/8

White-Tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum Albistylum) シオカラトンボ（塩辛蜻蛉）

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

These are white-tailed skimmers (Orthetrum albistylum). The dragonfly is found across Asia and Russia. Males and females can be distinguished by color. Males are bluish while females are yellowish. The thing is young males are also yellowish, which makes it difficult to distinguish young males from females. 

The white-tailed skimmer dragonfly is called "shiokara tombo" in Japanese, which translates to "salty dragonfly" because of a white powdery substance developed on its' abdomen.

2025/8/2 Female

2022/8/13 Male